Time to Think - Story of Mennard

A lawyer who blogs over at The Story of Mennard and regularly recommends me at Twitter's #followfriday has written a poignant post - No Time to Think. You can tell from the flow of his text that it came out naturally, and it is the sincerity of it that makes the text very touching.

There is never too much time to think. Apparently even those who teach Philosophy today has to dedicate more time to filling out various bureaucratic papers than to thinking. And of course, there is a fear of thinking. The same kind of fear that Hamlet pondered on in his famous soliloquy. He stated that people are afraid of ending their lives because they didn't know what dreams they'd see in their mortal slumber. Those who live are afraid of thinking because all too often we realise that we have never fulfilled any dreams, or will never fulfil them.

I was reading Mennard's story, and various thoughts were flashing in my head. How the doctors saved my life when I was seven months old - it wasn't either of my parents' birthday, but they, too, spent sleepless nights by my side. How my relative in the UK died through a remarkarble negligence on the part of a host of local GPs. He died in his sleep, and I was late to get home from work. Committed to running the charity and driving his son and wife (and occasionally a daughter-in-law) everywhere, he, too, had no time to think. How I made a decision many people don't make, and decided to be happy alone rather than unhappy together. Many other dreams that I rarely share with anyone - you can put it on my unusual superstition, if you like.

The reason why Mennard's post resonates in many of us isn't just because it is personal or because it is well written, literary. The reason is that because it becomes a human mind to reflect on the surrounding world, and the less time the mind has for it, the more frustrated it becomes. It's not necessarily becoming frustrated over something bad or sad - but even the inability to focus on the beautiful intimate moments starts gradually weighing you down. Perhaps there is a way to get around it, to not worry much, to adjust your mind frame in such way that you only think of good things all the time. For sure, this is possible, and I am one of the those who tries to do this. But once in a while a flood of memories comes out of the blue and engulfs you, and you realise that the walk between "positive thinking" and "not thinking" is probably too narrow...