Once upon a time, there were three guys, two Americans and a Red Indian (tribal native American) lost in the middle of a desert. The sun was scorching hot and they had spend hours trying to find their way, when one of the Americans commented how hungry he was. The other promptly agreed that he too was very hungry and asked the Red Indian whether he too was hungry. The Red Indian answered in the negative and they continued on their quest to find their way.

After some time, they chanced upon a small eatery where they decided to refresh themselves and ask for directions. When the three started to eat, the Red Indian ate twice as much as other two put together, surprising the others. It was then that they asked him how he could eat so much when just a while ago, he had told them that he was not hungry. The Red Indian shrugged and told them that out in the desert he did not bother to think about hunger and food as there was no food to be had, while now there was food at his disposal so he was eating to his heart’s content!

Often, we think about things that are not in our control. Feeling hungry is obvious. The Red Indian was not God, not to feel hungry without food. It’s just that he chose not to think about it as there was nothing he could do about it, whereas the others were thinking about food and making themselves more miserable. When there was food to be had, he lost no time in out-eating them. Moral of the piece, if there is any? Think where and when required and not as a compulsive habit.

My friend , <div class="ljuser">v4veens</div> has written an interesting post on her blog about her shopping experience and how she felt she ought to have planned it better. Sasi Sir (<div class="ljuser">the_little_sasi</div> ) has commented on the blog saying that there must be a limit to the amount of pre-planning that we must do, as there are only so many things in our control. Beyond that, I feel it’s just a waste of precious time.

I have not watched the movie ‘Beautiful Mind’, about the life of the great mathematician John Nash, but I have heard that it describes his battle with paranoid schizophrenia. He is supposedly shown deliberating back and forth for a really long time, just to come to a decision whether to drink coffee or tea. I mean, is that the kind of a decision that is extra-ordinary? It was not the last cup of beverage that he was consuming in his life time or something. This kind of behavior is perfectly common in the case of schizophrenics, but many other people, those not suffering from any such conditions, spend hours upon hours coming to decisions that they are not even empowered to take! Ultimately, the just opt for whatever comes their way, but still the amount of thinking that they do is phenomenal! I’m not saying that we should not think at all. On the contrary, thinking is very essential, but it must be in moderation. And if one is thinking about something that one has very little or no control over, he/she is just wasting time.