{"id":77718,"date":"2024-01-15T19:30:07","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T00:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/?p=77718"},"modified":"2024-01-15T19:37:10","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T00:37:10","slug":"the-pyrex-paradox-how-acting-without-thinking-benefits-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpsleadership.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/15\/the-pyrex-paradox-how-acting-without-thinking-benefits-you\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pyrex Paradox: How Acting Without Thinking Benefits You"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pyrex cookware is carefree and versatile. You can use it on a stovetop, transfer it to a hot oven, and then a table to serve from. I didn\u2019t know you could not apply direct heat to an empty Pyrex container. Without contents to distribute the heat, it will crack – or worse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I was searing chicken in a frypan with a Pyrex chaffing dish beside it to collect batches to move into the oven and inadvertently turned on the heating element beneath it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Suddenly, there was a gunshot-like bang. Smoke and shards and pulverized glass everywhere. My daughter ran to the kitchen to find me standing at the stove with blood running down my face. Some tiny shards of glass were stuck into my brow, and even minor injuries to the face bleed excessively.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At the moment of the explosion, a surge of adrenaline caused me to react instantly to avoid the glass shards from damaging my eyes. That is what adrenaline does: rapidly reorganize your body to prevent sudden injury. It also shuts down your ability to think and override the response. Not thinking protects you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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How you think and what you think about informs the decisions you make. The quality of your thinking shapes the quality of your life. Yet, much of human existence operates beneath the surface of conscious thought.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Your brain and nervous system control the systems that sustain life without your needing to actively think about them. Your heart beats, food digests, you breathe, eliminate waste, fall asleep, and wake up thanks to the autonomic nervous system. We are not so different from non-thinking living things without brains, such as plants, bacteria, and amoebas that grow, find nourishment, and survive without a central nervous system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If we had to constantly think about all these vital functions to survive, those who cannot or do not would quickly perish. The rest of us would likely be so overwhelmed that imagining how we could employ our minds for much else is difficult.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Fortunately, we can think critically beyond survival. We exercise curiosity, solve problems beyond urgent threats to our safety, and explore life and the world in ways that have brought astonishing advancements through scientific discovery, invention, and innovation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Still, many people seem to go through life hardly thinking. It may be one of the reasons for much of the mediocrity, malaise, and dysfunction in the world today. The lives of those who do not accomplish anything meaningful are devoid of joy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To cultivate that joy, you might pause on those things that do not require thinking, just as mindfulness exercises help you think about not thinking; considering all that you do not need to think about allows you to fill that void with what you should think critically about. You might then realize the potential of your mind to accomplish things that contribute value and create moments of overwhelming joy in your life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>