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Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for the

by swombat 15y ago

Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. Under the guise of being a piece of wisdom, this, to me, sounds like a healthy recipe for going insane. Watch your thoughts? Indeed. Might as well try to bite your own teeth. The world becomes a lot more fun and easier to deal with once you stop trying to control everything and realise that things tend to work pretty much ok even if you don't keep a paranoid eye on them. I much prefer the following Haiku: Sitting silently, Doing nothing And the grass grows by itself.

Meai 15y ago
Well maybe things working out 'okay' is not good enough? Maybe not everyone has a good life already and actually wants or needs to change? This advice is meant for people that want to change their destiny. It is good that you can be happy with who you are, but some people want to improve drastically, not just by a few minor character alignments over a few decades.
aaronblohowiak 15y ago
metacognitive regulation is a skill that takes concerted effort to develop, but is verified by science to impact behavior. practices like cognitive behavioral therapy and buddhism take a similar approach to altering thought habits to influence actions.
- yelsgib 15y ago
  Verified by science! Oh me oh my! But how do we regulate our metacognitive regulation? And can we regulate that regulation? And ... Biting your own teeth, indeed.
est 15y ago
> Sitting silently, > Doing nothing > And the grass grows by itself. And you die of hunger because your crop field is full of grass. Seriously, born in East Asia and had enough the Zen anti-industry crap, I much prefer Mobilis in Mobili. Also don't forget the hilarious "If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by (子在川上曰：逝者如斯乎)" LMAO
GHFigs 15y ago
In defense of a cheesy classroom poster, a better verb would be observe. You're (reasonably) interpreting "watch" as something like "control" ("Watch this prisoner."), but it can also mean simply to look at ("Watch the tide roll in.") As the human default seems to be blind acceptance of every rationalization that appears in our minds, simply being more aware (by observation) that who you are is a process and not an immutable state can be a profound step.
- CamperBob 15y ago
  I'd have picked 'consider' or 'contemplate' rather than 'watch.' Apart from the Orwellian undertones, you can 'watch' something without even understanding it, much less influencing or controlling it.
godDLL 15y ago
Isn't watching your thoughts a kind of meditation technique? One called mindfulness? I've not done enough of it to be sure that it can be made to work for everyone in every situation, but it sure helps me with my day. Catching yourself drifting in the direction you shouldn't be right now is what focus is all about, no?

by swombat 15y ago

Meai 15y ago

Well maybe things working out 'okay' is not good enough? Maybe not everyone has a good life already and actually wants or needs to change? This advice is meant for people that want to change their destiny. It is good that you can be happy with who you are, but some people want to improve drastically, not just by a few minor character alignments over a few decades.

aaronblohowiak 15y ago

metacognitive regulation is a skill that takes concerted effort to develop, but is verified by science to impact behavior. practices like cognitive behavioral therapy and buddhism take a similar approach to altering thought habits to influence actions.

yelsgib 15y ago
Verified by science! Oh me oh my! But how do we regulate our metacognitive regulation? And can we regulate that regulation? And ... Biting your own teeth, indeed.

est 15y ago

> Sitting silently, > Doing nothing > And the grass grows by itself. And you die of hunger because your crop field is full of grass. Seriously, born in East Asia and had enough the Zen anti-industry crap, I much prefer Mobilis in Mobili. Also don't forget the hilarious "If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by (子在川上曰：逝者如斯乎)" LMAO

GHFigs 15y ago

In defense of a cheesy classroom poster, a better verb would be observe. You're (reasonably) interpreting "watch" as something like "control" ("Watch this prisoner."), but it can also mean simply to look at ("Watch the tide roll in.") As the human default seems to be blind acceptance of every rationalization that appears in our minds, simply being more aware (by observation) that who you are is a process and not an immutable state can be a profound step.

CamperBob 15y ago
I'd have picked 'consider' or 'contemplate' rather than 'watch.' Apart from the Orwellian undertones, you can 'watch' something without even understanding it, much less influencing or controlling it.

godDLL 15y ago

Isn't watching your thoughts a kind of meditation technique? One called mindfulness? I've not done enough of it to be sure that it can be made to work for everyone in every situation, but it sure helps me with my day. Catching yourself drifting in the direction you shouldn't be right now is what focus is all about, no?