First Line Thinking

The five senses are critical parts of the people survival system. Humans would not have made it much pass the Genesis bush without keen senses. The senses are subjective instruments being called upon to perform objective tasks. Subjective in the sense that they are no where near perfect in their role as data gatherers. Children are taught to "stop at the street corner and look both ways." But, who has not followed this procedure only to "pull out or walk out" in front of someone or something, or at least almost do so? However, the senses can usually be counted on to adequate enough information about any particular situation. The old saying that "two heads are better than one" is never more true than when it comes to compiling data for decision making. Four eyes and four ears are, in most cases, better than two.

First Line Thinking (FLT) deals with the facts as presented by the senses. There is no interpretation, no opinion or assumption involved in first line thinking. Joe Friday, television's Dragnet detective would say to the informant trying to add an opinion as to what happened at the scene would chide, "Just the facts Mister, Just the facts!" FLT takes what the five senses provide and stop at that.

FLT is an essential part of thought management. It is a way of preventing worrisome thoghts related to what could have happened or probably happened. Mental imagery can get very sophisticated when it comes to assumptions and presumptions. Borrowed trouble or elaborate "probably's" can be avoided when first line thinking is allowed to stand on it's own. A friend's wife left him. She told him that she was "leaving and that she would not be coming back."
In the days ahead his tendency was to make more out of what she said than was there. He was reminded of what his wife had said and, since there was no more information, was cautioned to limit his thinking to that information alone. Speculations about where she was, what she was doing, why she left and what she was going to do only dug his mental and emotional hole deeper.
She said she was leaving and she did. She said that she would not be coming back, which she did not. Stop! That's all the information that the woman provided upon her departure.

FLT can ease the burden of obsessive thinking. The mind can begin to formulate elaborate story lines and plots involving a host of assumptions and probabilities. This kind of thinking is a gamble with the facts and usually prove to be false. A more productive method involves a thought management called "First Line Thinking." As Joe Friday would say, "Just the facts mister, just the facts."

Something on My Mind

The song says, "You were always on my mind." The brain can begin thinking certain thoughts and these thoughts can be intrusive, continual and pressing. That is sometimes referred to as obsessive thinking or cognitive rumination. For example, thoughts that are characterized as "Worry" can be quite obsessive. Continuous thinking is, however, not an option. The mind is never void of thoughts; they are there 24/7.

Thoughts can be selected and managed. A challenging part of this cognitive management involves slowing down the thought process. Thoughts come one at a time. They may seem to overlap and run together, but a thought is basically a loner in the sense that each stands alone as a single entity. Some researchers speak of the "gap" between thoughts. Like gaps between notes of music. Each note stands alone. When music is being played the gaps are so close that no silence is detected, even though it is there. Some forms of meditation strive to slow the cognitive process down, striving to "get in the cognitive gap" of silence.

This type of thought management requires desire and practice. One must recognize and desire the benefits of the technique. One of the primary benefits involves slowing down the body's matabolism such as heart rate, blood pressure and stress index. The body and the mind get a rest, resulting in a sense of well-being, energy and motivation. A sign on our football dressing room wall read, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all."

One of the most effective ways of slowing thoughts involves becoming aware of brain activity. Simply taking a moment to feel the "thought rate" is important. Thought rate is the speed of ideas, images and thoughts through the brain. Manic and hypomanic thought rates are exceptionally to moderately quick often resulting in confusion and dellusions. Knowing one's "cognitive speed" is critical.

Once cognitive speed is calculated and a need for slowing down is determined, one can simply begin to focus the brain's activity on a "mantra" or a single word or sound that can help one "get in the gap." Once some profficency is achieved with this technique, one can usually simply adjust thinking with a thought, "Slow down!" Awareness and focus are the most critical factors in the slowing process. Although difficult in the beginning, some benefits are felt immediately.