If you don’t recognize it, ask someone what it means
October 27, 2008 (Monday)
My blog about string figures, etc., set me to thinking about other little activities we used to have, like riddles or verbal puzzles. One of our favorites for a while was “Think of a number. Double it. Add four (or any number of your choice) to it. Subtract half of your total. Subtract the number you started with. Your result is ____!” And you were always right, because the answer was always half of the number you added as you were making calculations in your head. If a person would just stop and analyze the little exercise, he would immediately understand how the quizmaster could know the answer instantly. There’s really nothing to it. But in the heat of the moment, not quite understanding where the conversation is headed, and being willing to do something a little out of the ordinary, the average person is amazed that the other person seems to have read his(her) mind.
Excitement. Blood rushing through the brain. Adrenalin being pumped. Attention focused so strongly that logical deduction is limited in scope.
Emotions can be our friend or can mislead us or trick us.
Seems to me there’s a lot of emotion in the air these days what with all that’s been happening lately. A hurricane blows through. Power is lost. Traffic is snarled. Gasoline is expensive. Liberals or conservatives are fanatical and unfair to my side, whichever it may be, and now there’s real talk by sensible people about another depression. Wow.
If we panic, we cannot think straight. That’s our nature. So, listen to this great word of wisdom, for one and all. Here’s the word: Chill.
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(“Chill” (verb) – short form of “chill out,” Slang. to calm down; relax.)