Imagine standing at the counter of a vehicle service centre awaiting the bill to be itemised when your mind drifts to your neighbour’s yard. You sneakily inserted a hose nozzle through the mail slot moments before. Now, when your neighbour peers through the latch-door to check the mail, they get blasted in the face with a jet of water.
An absurd thought, a wacky idea at entirely the wrong moment.
Is it a sign you have mental issues needing the attention of a medical professional?
While some wayward thoughts are pleasant, even funny, others are not.
Like the time you left the rings on the kitchen bench-top on your daughter’s wedding day. This momentous occasion ruined by your stupid mistake. Now, at three in the morning, wide awake, you relive every cringe-worth, embarrassing second, exaggerating the moment to world-wide scandalous proportions.
This temporary madness and loss of mental control are your personal hellish moments to be re-enacted when you least expect it.
Such feelings of guilt do not mean you are a bad person.
The opposite is true; you are normal.
Neurologists observed the brains of people meant to be relaxed and found heightened activity. They call it the default mode network. Some 50% of our thoughts are spontaneous.
And here’s the thing: you can’t turn them off.
Unruly musing may be the source of creativity, especially when it comes to solving problems.
Does this mean being successful is simply a matter of daydreaming your way to wealth and happiness?
Not according to Sir Winston Churchill.
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