Don't Think About It

"Mom," the little tyke whined as the family drove down the desert highway on another family vacation, "I have to go to the bathroom!" With little opportunity to do anything at all for the poor little guy, his mother tried to be helpful. "Try not to think about it."

"Don't think about it." That's a fairly common solution offered either directly or by implication for many of our maladies. "I have a paper cut!" "Try not to think about it." "I am grieving for a lost loved one." "Try not to think about it." "I seem to have this recurring temptation to sin." "Try not to think about it."

It is, of course, a pretty foolish suggestion. I mean ... think about it. "Okay, they told me not to think about the pain in my head and it will go away. So ... I won't think about the pain in my head. I won't think about the pain in my head. I won't think about the pain in my head." And you've managed to focus your attention on the pain in your head. When I took driver's training (way back when), my instructor warned us, "Don't look at the line of parked cars that you want to avoid. Look instead where you want to go. Why? Because you tend to go where you look." It's true in driving; it's true in life ... sometimes with tragic consequences. I would guess that we all know someone who grew up with a rotten parent or two. They told themselves from a young age, "I'll never be like my dad (or mom or whatever)." Unfortunately, the focused attention on avoiding being like whomever has ended up making them exactly like whomever, and the problems are perpetuated rather than terminated.

On the other hand, every parent of an infant knows exactly the solution to the problem. Little Johnny or Susie trips and falls, not very hard, but with quite a surprise. He or she is on the verge of crying ... and mom or dad provides the answer by simply distracting Johnny. That's right. They don't suggest that the little one does not think about the shock of the fall, but simply makes him or her think about something else. It would have worked the same for that poor unfortunate fellow who so hated his dad that he became just like him. Most likely if he had, instead, picked up a positive role model to emulate, he might have gone a better direction.

"Don't think about it" doesn't work. By working at not thinking about something, we end up thinking about it by design. What does work more often than not is substitution. It's not "don't think about it", but "think about something else." Since the mind cannot focus simultaneously on two different thoughts, you would end up not thinking about it. Better, if you thought about where you would rather be, you'd likely go that direction.

"All of this is a fine little mental exercise ... but, really, Stan, what's the point?" There is an important point here. All of us suffer from "besetting sins", those things that keep bothering us while we're seeking to be holy reflections of Christ. Lots of people offer lots of fixes. Usually it is along the lines of "Don't think about it." Don't think about whatever is tempting you. That's the basic plan. Of course, working at not thinking about whatever is tempting you simply focuses your attention on the temptation. What can you do? The answer is simple. Until the passion we have for our Savior is stronger than the passion we have for our sin, it will always be a problem. Forget about "don't think about it." Look to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart." The problem isn't the temptation, but the love we all carry for the sin we all hate. When we are thoroughly enamored with Christ, the whole problem will go away. Maybe that's a better direction to look.