Too Much Thinking

Since I gave up the teaching profession for the life of non work I have gotten quite a few stares and questions from many about what it is I do all day to avoid being bored.. Now I understand that humans are trained to believe they are at least partly defined by some work they do. Society convinces us that so we won't eat potato chips and read bad novels all day. so that we will produce some material benefit for society There isn't anything wrong with doing that either. But it is true that we are told directly and indirectly from our earliest days ("Little Jimmy, what will you BE when you grow up?") of understanding that work is essential. Well, I knew that was a lie long before I quit my work, even as a kid I knew work wasn't as important as others said it was.. Of course, given that I am well off financially and can refuse to "play" the work role, I can understand why some people are confused and....yes..even annoyed that I am not trudging off to work every day. They all inevitably ask "the question". "What is it you do all day? Aren't you bored?"
So I write this E mail today to declare "NO, I am not bored" and to explain why. My standard response when they ask what I do all day now that I don't work is, "Everything I have been doing, except work." That should please them, but it usually leaves them gasping with a strange statement of their own. "I would be bored to death if I didn't work".
Without going through my daily routine now, just accept that I was very busy with a 12 year old child when in my working days and that all of that and other activities largely keeps me going now too. So what am I now doing mostly with the other eight hours a day. I read more, am on line more, see more people, do more things for others, take more naps and "do nothing" more often and most of all...I think more.
Haha Forget the idea that one can "think too much" for his own good. It is not a good notion to believe that. I have always devoted large amounts of time to the simple act of thinking. Sadly, most schools everywhere in this programmed world brainwash kids with copious amounts of useless facts that tend to rot the brain and discourage thinking.
I was lucky. In my schools, thinking was the most important thing a student was required to do, not just thinking about school material but rather thinking about all aspects of life outside of school. We were instructed to find a reality outside of the books we studied, one of our own making. I like to find a question that is puzzling, and then try to figure out a solution. This may require reading or listening to what others say about it because many other people are smarter and better thinkers than I. Since I rarely write down the solutions to my thinking exercises I file it in my small brain and draw on it as needed. It sure beats guessing about a solution or relying on what everyone else in society thinks ("Everyone" is as often wrong as is right)
And thinking is fun. It sparks the imagination and allows a person to escape from the regimented world we must live with each day. I know most people (maybe you) wonder why I would want to think about something, er....such as....why so many people think race or religion is so important in defining a human. Most people find it ridiculous for a grown-up (I am not certain that I am a grown-up. It is still up for discussion and something I should also "think too much about") to spend so much time thinking.
But why? Aren't the really important things in life the abstract or philosophical ones? Who is remembered more, the king of an empire or the philosopher who left a legacy of his thoughts? It is always the latter. And though I am neither king nor philosopher and will leave no philosophical legacy, the thinking is good for ME. I am a better person when I spend time thinking about things both small and large than when merely working 8 hours a day.
It doesn't bother me anymore when people are annoyed at me for thinking or are jealous that I have more time to think, because I have been "thinking too much" all my life.. Most of those people who do not understand the importance of thinking never take more than a minute or so to think about anything abstract on any day, so they often can't understand why thinking is the very best thing one can do for good mental health (I know I am not a good example of that!) and a better understanding of the world in which we live. Yep! I am very busy not working, thinking and understanding myself and others more because of it. So my advice is to "think too much" whenever you can. You'll feel better for it.