Conversation on a Saturday morning:
D: "Mommy, do you know we don't have one thought? We get 3 thoughts"
Me: "I don't understand. How?"
D: "See, let me give you an example.
The first thought can be - I want to bake a cake.
The second thought can be - I don't have all the ingredients.
The third thought can be - I will not bake today. Maybe some other day when I have the ingredients.
That's why in English we say sometimes - I have second thoughts about this"
Me: "Woah, that's very true. How did you come up with this?"
D: "I don't know...I just thought about it. Or maybe, you injected your philosophy serum into me!"🙂
D reads a lot of Amar Chitra Katha and mythology stories, while I read philosophy and spirituality-related books. We keep discussing "thathuvams" or "stories with thathuvams" often (thathuvam - thought with a deeper meaning).
As I started ruminating about her 3-thought perspective, a new insight emerged.
Our logical and analytical side of the brain creates second and third thoughts, based on available information. In many situations, this deeper analysis is very much needed for self-protection, moderation, control, and exercise of our free will.
Those situations where our instinct might drive us towards temptations and desires that we might regret later.
For eg,
My first thought - "I see a box of Dharwad Peda in a supermarket and I feel tempted to buy it".
Second thought - "I've had a lot of sweets the previous week"
Third thought - "I'll buy this box 2 weeks from now"
But there are also times when this can get to the other extreme, where we end up over-analyzing each thought that comes up and we draw up spreadsheets in our minds (and on our devices) to weigh the pros and cons.
The trigger for the first thought could be purely intuition or a message from a higher power. And there are chances that we might choose to ignore the message because of our overthinking and analysis.
For eg, you experience a thought.
Your first thought - "I feel like writing an article on foods and their role in spirituality"
Second thought - "Who would even pay attention to it? And am I qualified to write about this topic? What if some criticism comes my way?"
Third thought - "Edhukku vambu! let me keep quiet"
The trigger is gone. Maybe, the trigger might traverse the Universal energy and find another person (say, XYZ) who might respond to it.
XYZ's first thought - "I feel like writing an article on foods and their role in spirituality"
XYZ responds to it immediately without second thoughts.
XYZ writes the article and publishes it. It resonates with at least one person (say, ABC).
ABC starts making changes to her food habits.
ABC feels the difference and shares her experience with her friends and family.
The origin of a thought - Is it from our instinct? Is it from our intuition? Identifying the origin or the source - that's the key.