A single focused thought can be as productive as a bee; eagerly drawn to the tasks of collection and fertilization. Over-thinking, without facts and intuition to focus them, are more like a swarm of flies around something that will grow no more!

Einstein proposed what he called "thought-experiments": fact-proving missions that could be done with validity entirely with the mind's images and logic. Socrates would have loved it. So would Galileo, whose famous experiment Einstein used as an example of a thought-experiment.

Even today, many believe that common-sense requires heavier objects to fall faster. Galileo disproved that with an elegant physical experiment. Einstein said we may simply imagine that there are four balls of equal weight, and a fifth whose weight equals that of all four of the other balls. If "common-sense" were correct, the big one would fall faster than the four small ones (as usual, we disregard air-resistance). But it becomes ridiculous when we imagine that we tie the four together in mid- flight. They now equal the weight of the heavier one; do they instantly accelerate to it's speed? Common sense will now conflict; obviously all fall together, regardless of weight. This allows us to realize that something not in resistance to a force does not feel that force. (There's something very Zen in that!)

I now propose feeling-experiments. (It's been real hard to get a handle on this. Any ideas?) Being as thought is often so one-sided and ignorant of emotions and subtle experiences, such an experiment may reveal our irrationalities and mistakes before we commit ourselves to them.

1. Feel free to plan like mad. Planning, in itself, is not a committment! Feel yourself living out your plans. what are the negatives? (No thinking here!) And as you approach decision (still safe...) you'll become clearer; your thoughts and feelings will integrate as they prepare for what could be a real application. Besides, if it's not fun to plan it, maybe you don't want to do it! So planning is a way to tell if you'd be happy in that particular future.

2. If you smoke, here's one that's very growthful and healthy in two ways: Physically and psychologically. People often hold a drink or cigarette between themselves and others as a barrier to being open, vunerable, growthful. If you think you might be doing this, experiment; hold it so that it's not between you, hold a sheet of paper instead, and feel how much it helps. A smoker may have a fear of losing that barrier--that "smokescreen". In fact, I believe that smoking might well be treated as a phobia!
3. Are you tempted to be celibate, a hermit? Yes, a relationship gives someone the power to hurt you, but feel about this: would you want a relationship that was not painful to end?!
4. Experiments can be fun! To show that thought gets in the way of things: thought sabotages sex, as is well known from the half-joking example of men thinking of baseball scores at the right time, in order to last longer. That can be a bad habit. Men's self-doubts, especially if they'd "failed" last time, can be destructive of the necessary freedom.
   Experiment: notice a time when you feel fatigued yet you still want to do it; when you feel inspired but feel too tired to do it; when the mind is willing but the flesh is weak. Then do it anyway! It can be the greatest sex. At that time, you're simply too tired to think. With that out of the way, the body can function without interference. (Alcohol is famous for interfering with rational thought; however, very much of it will interfere with physical function, too.)
5. Question: Men, do you wonder what a woman feels, psychologically? Experiment. Imagine: for a woman, it's physically taking something of another person's body into herself. See how this makes it easier for her to make a psychological connection: taking him in emotionally. She's more likely to do that than is a man, as we all know. Men who discover this kind of connection are precious to women.