Thoughts on thoughts, part 1

Please forgive me and allow me the next few posts. Two of my “hobbies” -- if you can call it that -- are reading the New York Times and thinking about the articles I read and anything else that I can think of. One of my former runners from many years ago described me in the following way: “Pete, you analyze.” OK! Guilty as charged. I like to think about thinking. Whatever that means. And so, please allow me to empty my vault of thoughts and quotations that I have collected during the past several months.

This first post has to do with the following line I read in a Times article about a reluctant guy who was dreading a family visit during the holidays: “The problem is that great divide between intent and action. It’s where we all live, a lot of the time, and somehow this is supposed to be comforting yet is not.”

Here’s how I read that quote: The fine line between doing something, and not doing something, and figuring out whether the doing or the not doing, is very difficult to ascertain. More often than not, it’s in the doing that you feel better ultimately. But what if you decide to fire off a reply e-mail with what you really think … and that ends up hurting feelings or fracturing a relationship? I guess, my two-bit, one-paragraph philosophy for this post would be this: If anger drives your action, or your thoughts of action, better to leave that action undone. If, however, only good can arise from your action, do your best to follow through on the intent.

Also: And if your nutty uncle or first cousin at the Christmas party is saying stupid stuff, resist the temptation to put him in his place and just walk away.