I think, therefore I am

For awhile, I tried looking for the 'off' switch. There were just too many thoughts flying around in my head, and I wished I could just turn them off, for the time being. Just stop thinking, and live in blissful silence.

The average person has around 60,000 thoughts a day. And that's just the thoughts on their own, not where it takes you, the conversations, disscussions, doubts, and decisions that stems from those thoughts. In short, a person is constantly thinking, even in his sleep. Who needs that? I think it's too taxing on my brain. So I wished I could escape to a sunny little island somewhere, where no one, and nothing could bother me, and I could just relax, without THINKING.

But I thought about it, (no pun intended) and I realized, every thought that I have makes me who I am, a unique individual, different from every other human on this earth. That being so, why would I want to stop thinking? Imagine if we all had the same thoughts. If we were all programed the same way, had the same emotions, took the same actions. The world would be a boring place.

I read a short story, where the governmant programmed each person, so they would all think alike, and not have any individual thought. The second a unique thought entered their mind, a loud screaching sound blasted in their ears, to put them back on track. The motto was, everyone is the same, and no one can try to be different.

René Descartes, a french philosopher, put in in terms simple enough for me to understand. "Cogito, ergo sum" : "I think, therefore I am"

"But I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies. Does it now follow that I too do not exist? No. If I convinced myself of something [or thought anything at all] then I certainly existed. But there is a deceiver of supreme power and cunning who is deliberately and constantly deceiving me. In that case I too undoubtedly exist, if he is deceiving me; and let him deceive me as much as he can, he will never bring it about that I am nothing so long as I think that I am something. So, after considering everything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that the proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind."

The simple meaning of the phrase is that if someone is wondering whether or not he exists, that is in and of itself proof that he does exist, because, at the very least, there is an "I" who is doing the thinking.

There is only one 'me' in this world. G-d made no two men alike, and every thought I have, and every decision I make, will be a first in this world.

Yes, at times it is so frustrating. I can sweat over one thought for hours, and never come to a conclusion. I can think, and rethink a decision a million times, and not be able to decide what to do. I look at the world, filled with confusion, unable to comprehend anything, unsure how I fit into the scheme of things.

Sometimes my thoughts lead me to places that I don't want to go. They can make me scared, depressed, upset. They can make me feel worthless, like I have no purpose here, and that I'll never get anywhere in life.

But on the other hand, my thoughts can make me feel good. I can feel happy, elated, at peace with myself, and the world. At times, I am so sure of myself, and my existance here. Things can become so clear, like I had a peak through a window. And at those times, I have such a burst of energy, and I feel like I can do anything.

There's no two ways about it. As long as we have free thought, our minds will go both ways. Your brain has the abilty to pull you to the depths of depression, or up to the greastest hights of happiness. And that is the beauty of it- the fact that WE are in control. We can stop a train of thought, or switch tracks. We can go to sleep, and we will think differently in the morning. We can come to conclusions, and make decisions, and good things will come from it.

I'm glad I didn't find the off switch. I might have taken advantage of it, or turned it off for good. Though I do sometimes feel like my thoughts are frustrating, or bothering me, I thank G-d for giving me the gift of thought.

'I think, therefore I am.' Cherish it, channel it, use it properly, and you will go far in life.