We can make too big a deal of trying to improve our wellbeing. Also, too small a deal. Whether too small or not too small, starting with simple things that can effortlessly be incorporated in our daily lives can be recommended.
‘What things will be good to try doing?’
‘Easy things. Things that I can do unaided. Things that don’t require changing significantly any of my routines.’
‘What is the sense of doing things simply because they are easy to do?’
‘We shouldn’t do things simply because they are easy, if they are pointless’.
‘Can you point to anything that is easy to do as well as pointful?’
‘Well, we have to work out our own answers. I can think of things that accord with my views and wishes but they may not suit you.
One simple item that appeals to me may be to enrich my thinking patterns, my ways of looking at myself and examining the grooves along which I run. A small thinking habit can be a good target for a trial change. Do my thoughts, speech or actions centre on a particular topic more than on others? What do I think about most, maybe too much, or always in a particular way? Let me think aloud now.
In the sentences preceding I see that I talk about ‘I’ or ‘me’. What might happen should I change this habit? I can simply try it out. I can, for example, change how I refer to the person that I call ‘me’. So, ‘I am hungry’ or ‘I am happy’ can become ‘Diyanath is hungry’ or ‘Diyanath is happy’. A further change could be to refer to personal events in the third person, ‘This person is hungry’ or ‘This person is happy’. Will doing this for a while make a difference? Who knows… But I can continue the exercise for the rest of today, at least to find out whether a blinding new light begins to shine. No big loss if it doesn’t.
We may find it easier to make decisions when the ‘I’ becomes less the centre of attention. Should Diyanath – as opposed to I – marry Ursula? Our decisions may become less emotional and more reasoned. Or they may not. If they do, how is that better? After our little game we may discover that the simple change to ‘Should this person marry Ursula?’ makes for a different kind of decision making. Possibly more reasoned. Possibly less exciting.
Had we a way to find out whether a small experiment leads to a happier or more meaningful life, these little games can lead to life changing processes. And to closer examination of what we consider desirable or what we consider good. Do reasoned actions lead to a more sedate and less tumultuous life, in the end? If so, why is that good? It is likely to be more boring, for starters..
