Time to think
Dr. Selim Erhan, TLT Editor | TLT From the Editor October 2022
When we are forced to slow down, we gain an opportunity to evaluate the situations in our lives and make better decisions.
This summer I had several occasions to go on road trips. Some were business oriented and some were for leisure. I enjoyed the scenery, the countryside, the stops that were refreshing but most of all the relaxation of being in control of my own travel. Apart from these, I am sure as many of you have experienced, long-distance drives are exceptionally good opportunities to think, especially if the roads are empty. With a combination of new things that simulate us, maybe a podcast we listen to or a song that brings memories, one thought leads to another, and surprisingly that long distance is not that long anymore. In fact, often we can barely wrap up our thoughts before we arrive. One realizes that it does take a long time to think properly, to evaluate a situation from many angles. It probably will take longer to think as the world advances in technology and more items enter already complex equations. There is so much more detail, so many more factors to consider. Therefore, we need more time than ever to evaluate as much data as possible to be able to make healthy decisions.
Are we really allowing ourselves the time to make healthy decisions? Are we cramming in too many activities, limiting the time we must devote to making decisions? We must resist the urge to give a quick decision and move on to the next item. If we don’t allow ourselves the time to think, we get stressed out, sometimes to the point where our minds go blank. Sometimes we have felt blindsided with something that suddenly appeared, whereas if we had given the situation some thought, we could have seen it coming! We would have taken precautions instead of trying to fix things in a mad rush. Sometimes an extra frustrating trip to the department store may solve the problem, but sometimes we realize that we have not thought about the needs of people that are close to us. Emotional hurt is not that easy to fix and best avoided before it happens.
Thinking takes time, but luckily the mind is quick and even quicker if we make thinking a habit. Another advantage is that people do not change with time. Therefore, we can eliminate a big delta out of the equation. We still have the same basic needs over millions of years—eating, drinking, sleeping, friendship, respect and an outlet for our creative energy. We need to be in touch with fellow humans. It really doesn’t matter if we signal with smoke or send text messages—both serve the desire to connect. Recently I was talking with a friend about new technology and how we were sending letters before phone calls became more economical.
Then we remembered that it took two to three weeks for letters to reach their destinations, especially from abroad. But still we were perfectly fine because the desire to connect was met. They remembered us, we remembered them, and, even better, we took the time to write two or three pages, solely concentrating on them!
I was once reading a book about the tablets from Mesopotamia written 3,000 years ago. A father on a business trip was writing to his son, “Son, why don’t you sit and finish your homework instead of running around after school and worrying your mother!” Another one was from one woman, perhaps to a relative: “If you want to wear a long skirt do so, but I will wear a short skirt, and don’t interfere with my lifestyle!” So, it is not that difficult to put ourselves in other people’s shoes: they are like us. All we need is some time to give the situation some thought.
Do we even devote enough time to reading? In a matter of hours, we can absorb someone else’s thoughts that have accumulated over a lifetime. It could even save us a lot of time, as, surprisingly, a lot of things were already invented. As I’m writing this, I’m eyeing the pile of technical journals waiting for me. I am sure one of them holds a topic for my next article!
Dr. Selim Erhan is director of business development for Process Oils Inc. in Trout Valley, Ill. You can reach him at serhan@processoilsinc.com.