Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute.
–F.Dostoyevsky
What’s the flip side to overthinking everything?
Trying not to think about a particular thing. Person. Event. Whatever. Dostoevsky called it. It is very hard to do. Or rather, not to do. Try not to think of polar bears, and your mind will be full of them.
The only thing that works to some extent is distraction.
So I went ice skating. I have ice skated before, but not for years. Decades, maybe. I used to go skating with a coworker in the early 90’s. Yikes. A long time ago.
It’s hard to think about things you don’t want to think about when you are concentrating on not falling and breaking a wrist. Or not crashing into a small child or getting crashed into by a little guy taking a hockey lesson.
It kept the polar bears away for a little while, it was a lot of fun, and it was a (literally) cool place to be on a hot day.
My knee has a bit of a bruise from my one dramatic wipeout, but no major damage. Maybe I should take a few lessons. That’d be fun, and then I’d also know how to stop!
What else might be a good polar bear remover?
–Spin classes. I need to find a spin studio nearby. Spinning is good for polar bear removal.
–Art. Maybe I should dig out my sketch pads or actually use some of the Lino blocks and make prints.
–Tattoos. Great for polar bear removal, but very expensive.
–Reading, but I already do that.
–Sleeping. Like I am about to do now.
No polar bears allowed.