Free Just 2 Seconds by Gavin de Becker, Thomas A. Taylor, Jeff Marquart Page B

the mind, and you rarely know from where it arose. Very often, a thought will be important and relevant. You might explore it, consider it, act on it, or discard it. It might come back, it might not. Whatever happens, the initial arising of a thought is not under your control.
    Thinking, on the other hand, is the horizontal process of consciously linking thoughts, concepts, and ideas -- and thinking is what most often gets in the protector's way, as in this example:
"What's with the guy in the yellow raincoat? Reminds me of that sailboat team, crew all wore yellow raincoats. What's that race in Australia? Or it starts in Australia. Chevron sponsored some of them. Chevron logo was on the sails. Chevron had that executive kidnapped in Brazil. Or Peru... America's Cup! But it starts in Australia? Or a different place each year? Chevron paid some ransom, I remember. Is it even likely to rain? Why wouldn't a guy leave a coat like that in the car? If he's got a car. Some people came by bus. Buses could block the parking lot exit -- have to remember to check that when we get to the reception. Maybe we can even see the driveway from one of the windows. Is it a reception, or just a fast meet-and-greet? Reception means food. I should have eaten something when we had that downtime. Maybe we can bring the cars around before the thing starts, in case we have to leave early. Nutrition bar in the car; just candy really, but I want it. I need it. And if it rains, it'll be easier to get coats from the car. Maybe that's why he's wearing a raincoat ..."
    This form of thinking, in which one idea is linked to the next, might feel like there's a constructive process underway. There isn't. The mind often links things together and then thinks it has formed some continuity -- but continuity is an illusion. In protective work, Don't strive for continuity. Continuity is a product of the mind only, a belief that some past events are significantly linked to the present moment and to the future. In protective work, there is nothing gained by connecting this moment to other moments -- and much is lost during the time travel it takes to gather up memories and create a story. As hard as it is for the mind to accept, there is no story to assemble, no sense to be made of events -- just occurrences and images that must each be allowed to stand on its own. In the example above ("What's with the guy in the yellow raincoat?"), the thought had great value, but the thinking carried the Mind away.
     
"When you are given diamonds mixed with gravel, you may either miss the diamonds or find them. It is the seeing that matters."

Indian Sage, Nisargadatta Maharaj

Satisfy the Hungry Mind
    Earlier, we discussed addictions, and the mind itself has an addiction: To reach conclusions. A moment after reaching one conclusion, it will want to replace it with another one, and so on. If your mind has trouble discarding the snapshots appearing before you, try creating a quick name or label for each one. This can help convince the mind that it has completed a task, that it's okay to move on to the next person or event. For example, the process of observing and then naming seven people could look like this, and could be this fast:
     
Sunburn
White hair
Looks like Leonard Nimoy
Mr. Pushy
Guy arguing with wife
Mr. Nervous
Second time in line
    Notice that you didn't think about any of the people you named. Also, the last four names assigned are based upon behavior: One man is pushy, another is arguing, one appears nervous, and the last is doing something of relevance to your mission (getting into a receiving line for the second time). If, in order to let go of snapshots, you must name them, then naming on the basis of behavior is more useful than naming on the basis of appearance, because behavior is more relevant to your mission than appearance.
    The mission is to see, to realy see. For example, did you really see the misspelled word in the last sentence? (It's the seventh