A thought on thoughts...

Have you ever noticed how many thoughts surface inside your mind every hour of every day (of every month of every year of your life)?

After asking myself the question, I decided to do a little research. Apparently a person has between 2000 to 6000 thoughts on average, per day. I think (there goes another thought) it would be great to have a little machine (just for fun) that counts and labels each type of thought. It would be so revealing, not so much to the rest of the world, but to oneself. [Now that I think about it more though, perhaps a prelude to that little machine exists already: Twitter.]

How many of these thoughts are negative thoughts, positive thoughts, neutral thoughts? How do they affect my actions, the actions of others? How much of these are actual helping me accomplish my goals?

Anyway, the fact is that most of us are completely oblivious about what's happening in our minds and that just by bringing a little awareness, the mind actually slows down. I know that for me being conscious of my thoughts has given me a lot of insight on not just myself, but the world around me. At times it takes me by surprise, where did this thought come from? I bet that if someone else could actually hear my thoughts, they would think I smoke pot. (Just in case someone's doubting out there... I don't.) I bet too, I am not alone here.

I have noticed that at times, the thoughts I thought were mine, were not necessarily so. The more I observe thoughts, the more I ask myself, "Where do thoughts come from? What creates thoughts?"

A little food for thought. More to come...