Thought Process
As mentioned in my last post, everything begins with a thought. But what is thinking? What do we use to think? How do we remember that 2+2=4? Why don't I have to think about breathing?
Well your brain of course. At least that is what I have been told. Your brain must be the boss! It controls everything your body does. It must even control your emotions.
Thought is actually very physically demanding. Even Grand Master Chess players have to prepare themselves physically for a tournament. What? They are just sitting there for hours barely moving!
Robert Sapolsky, who studies stress in primates at Stanford University, says a chess player can burn up to 6,000 calories a day while playing in a tournament, three times what an average person consumes in a day. Based on breathing rates (which triple during competition), blood pressure (which elevates) and muscle contractions before, during and after major tournaments, Sapolsky suggests that grandmasters' stress responses to chess are on par with what elite athletes experience.
"Grandmasters sustain elevated blood pressure for hours in the range found in competitive marathon runners," Sapolsky says.
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They even experience on average 2 pounds of weight loss a day during tournaments! over a 10 day tournament, that's 20 pounds! I think I want to try that diet, lets call it the “Grand Master Weight Loss Plan”
So as in the game of chess, so is the way of life. Thought is challenging and of paramount importance.
I would also say that thinking is the only thing a person really has complete control over.
However, other peoples thoughts are constantly injected into our minds by social media, main stream media, pastors, politicians, etc ... its hard to think for yourself.
Controlling your own thoughts is the battle. Thoughts are the start of all actions and emotions. And to be successful in your life, with a definite plan, your mind should be clear on exactly what you want, not what other people think is appropriate.
It must be of great importance to gather dependable facts and reliable sources of information which you can use in your thinking process. That is for you to decide, I can not provide where to find it. But if your mind is calm, you will eventually be able to determine what is good for you.
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Sources:
[https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/27593253/why-grandmasters-magnus-carlsen-fabiano-caruana-lose-weight-playing-chess](https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/27593253/why-grandmasters-magnus-carlsen-fabiano-caruana-lose-weight-playing-chess)
Special Thanks to Minh Pham for the picture.