Good Things to Think About

I like the sentiment behind a quote that I found on Chabad.org: "You must always have good things to think about." There's actually a second statement that follows this, but it's this first part that interests me.

The interesting thing is that, while we're always thinking, we're not always aware that we're thinking. Personally, sometimes I am so busy at work solving sudden problems and accomplishing small task after small task, that I don't even recognize that something is on my mind.

That's why the quote struck me. It made me realize that I did not consciously have in my mind a good thing that I was thinking about. I suppose that for the good people at Chabad.org, good things primarily involve Torah, Talmud or the like. I don't have any good recall of these texts -- especially here at my workspace -- so I thnk of my family.

My daughter and my wife. My parents and my parents-in-law. My brothers and their families. They all make my life good, fun, interesting, stressful, and exciting. In other words, they give me "spirit and passion and values".

Make no mistake: I think Torah and studying Torah give these things too, but no one would ever mistake me for a Torah scholar or even a pious man. Maybe my true good thing to think about is reading some Torah tonight and ardently thinking about what it says -- as well as what others say about it.

Good thinking leads to good resolutions, and we hope to good actions. If we are really sharp, we repeat the process over and over. And, importantly, we remember to repeat the process over and over.

The good, finally, has got to be more in the doing again than in the doing.