Have you ever heard a child who has broken something or hurt someone exclaim “I didn’t do it on purpose”?

That line is used as a kind of excuse, a justification suggesting that it was accidental, not intentional, and therefore the kid shouldn’t be punished for it.

I’d like to apply that concept to the act of thinking. A lot of people assume that if you’re into mindfulness, then you’re “against” thinking. Not so! I’m a huge fan of thinking. I do a lot of thinking myself. The difference is, I do it on purpose.

Thinking on purpose is vastly different than the type of mindless, automatic, barely conscious thinking that tends to accompany most people from the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep again at night. That type of thinking is what I affectionately call “blah-blah” thinking.

Blah-blah thinking is so constant that we tend to not even notice its presence. It follows us throughout the day like our shadow. It goes round and round in circles, repeating the same platitudes all day long, having a conversation with someone, as if there were someone listening and dialoging with us when in fact there’s nobody there.

Thinking on purpose is radically different from blah-blah thinking. Thinking on purpose is conscious. It is chosen, intentional. It has, well, a PURPOSE. I’ve spent much of the last hour thinking on purpose about this blog post – what I would say, how I would structure the post, what the key points would be, and so on.

Thinking on purpose is a superpower! We all have it, and we all can tap into its power whenever we want. Like I said, I’m a huge fan.

I am not, however, a huge fan of blah-blah thinking. That kind of thinking takes up space in our awareness, leaving us less mental horsepower for truly being present, and really experiencing what we’re experiencing. Blah-blah thinking is like a veil. You can still see everything, but not as clearly as you would without it.

Thinking on purpose adds value. Blah-blah adds nothing of value. It’s like having a generator running constantly in your back yard even though there’s no power outage. It’s consuming energy but not producing anything useful.

My suggestion is that you start noticing blah-blah thinking. Just notice, nothing more. When you notice thoughts constantly running, ask yourself, is this blah-blah thinking or am I thinking on purpose. If you conclude that it’s blah-blah, take a pause and spend a few moments really looking around, really seeing, hearing and feeling what’s happening right where you are. That’s it! That’s the whole practice. Just notice the blah-blah, and redirect your attention to the senses. Just this simple practice can be a game-changer.

If you find, however, that your thinking is really addressing an important issue, then continue to do it, on purpose. And be grateful that you have this amazing superpower. It’s a real gift.