How To Go With The Flow

Recently I’ve been wrestling with the concept of flow and vulnerability. For the most part, I lean toward the overthinking side of things.

I pour over facts to make sure I have the full picture. Then I analyze those facts to determine how they fit together and how they fit into the overall landscape of life. I “think” my way through problems and hope that those thoughts will guide my steps down the “right” path.

In my head thinking in this way sounds entirely rational, sensible, and wise. We should all "think things through" before taking any action. But then there’s science.

Neuroscience tells us that we are only conscious of about 5 % of our cognitive abilities. The majority of our actions and decisions depend on the 95 % of our brain activity that goes beyond our conscious awareness.

This means that despite our efforts to make decisions by “thinking things through," we really are only aware of about 5% of that process. The real Thinking, with a capital T, occurs unconsciously. That typ…