Someone once told me the average person has approximately 60,000 thoughts per day, and that 90 percent of those thoughts are the same as the day before.
I’m a little skeptical on how accurately the average amount of thoughts can be measured from person to person, including how much they vary from day to day. But if it is true, it’s a little disheartening. I realize that we as humans are creatures of habit. I am often guilty of following the same routine from week to week, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Actually, I would even go so far as to say that following a schedule is healthy. But it also lacks challenge, and I wonder how much (or little) effort it would take to allow ourselves more than just 10 percent-worth of new daily thoughts. Learning something different always feels like an accomplishment, at least for me, and my favorite way to do that is through new experiences.
That’s why my New Year’s resolution was to experience new things. Now that it is halfway into the year 2014, I realize that I could not have made that goal any more vague if I had tried. However, I can say with certainty that I have done at least two things this year that I have definitely never done before.
My first new experience? I broke a bone, in my right index finger.
My “clicking finger.” As a designer, it was probably one of the few injuries that could potentially affect my work. I wish I had a better story for how it happened when people ask, but I smashed it with my car door. I don’t recommend trying it.
The second new experience I had this year was that I let myself run out of gas. Not: “My gaslight was on, and whew, that was a close one!” My car actually stopped running because it literally had no more fuel. I don’t have a good excuse for letting this happen, either. Actually, I had just passed a gas station about a mile before when my car started to sputter to a halt.
My only defense is that I was running late, and I drive a fuel-efficient car — which I thought could run forever. Alas, it does not. Who knew?
While I can’t confidently say these were necessarily positive things, I did learn valuable lessons. At least that’s what I’ve been telling myself to justify these moments that lacked more sensible judgment. I learned, most importantly, that breaking bones is not fun, so move all limbs clear out of the way before swinging large metal objects. Secondly, my left hand is not nearly as useful as my right; it has been entirely too lazy the past 24 years. It needs to get its act together and quit being so useless. Thirdly, if a gaslight blinks, take it seriously. That thing means business.
I would like to say the rest of 2014 will hold more positive new experiences than broken bones and waiting on the side of the road somewhere, but looking back at the past six months, I believe that I will have to make more of a conscious effort to make that happen, since life has a tendency of getting in the way of all the things we set out to do.
That is why I decided to give my resolution a mid-year push in a new direction. Until at least the end of the summer, I plan to challenge myself by undertaking a new experience each week and take the Star’s readers with me on this journey through new, mini-milestone life accomplishments — and hopefully in process, allow my mind to expand beyond that 10 percent of original daily thoughts.
Alaina O'Neal 