I am playing a game on my iPad that is a hidden object kind of game. I like games where I don’t have to concentrate a lot, ya know, think too much – a little is good, but I like it to be fun. I have other things I have to think about so my games I want to be brainless and easy. This is kind of like that. Just look at pictures and pick out the objects. To me it is cool because it is not the same as the hidden objects games of my youth where the object is drawn into the scene. This game is tricky because the object are not necessarily hidden. Yeah, I know, they are right there in plain sight sometimes and it is still a challenge to see them. I find that really funny. I actually employ a theory of my husband’s about a phenomenon to play this game. It makes me laugh whenever I think of it. Especially when it works. My husband’s theory is: You can’t see what is not there.
That sounds obvious right? And it is, in reality you cannot see what is not there, but what he means when he says that is “I can’t see what I THINK is not there.” But the belief is so strong — it (the object you seek) is not there. So we don’t even bother with the “think” we just say, “I can’t see it because it is not there.” Because no matter what, once you believe it is not there it might as well not be.
My husband will often look for something then say, “Honey, can you look for the XXX (whatever) because I have been looking and it is not there.” Then I walk over without even looking and pick it up and give it to him. He says, “See? Sorry.” I say, “That’s ok. I get it.” Once you think it is not there — IT IS NOT THERE!
When I told him I was going to post about this he said it wasn’t originally his theory. He can’t remember whose it is. He kinda thinks it might have come from Sonny. Yeah, Sonny as in Sonny and Cher. But he can’t remember.
When you are looking for something that might truly not be there then this theory is difficult to get around. But in my game I can easily get around it. I know that the object on the list is there. So I have found myself thinking, “I will never find it.” Then I remember I can’t see things that aren’t there and I can’t see things if I think I can’t see them. So I take a breath and remind myself it is there and I can find it, and usually I find the object. I know it might sound silly to post about applying a theory to a game, but ya know, most of the time thinking is just a practice so if I practice it in a game situation, I can learn to practice it in real life. I just think it is funny because I believe the theory to be true so I work to counteract it in the game.
Also with the game I am not sure what the object will look like. So it is a good practice for opening my ideals of what things look like. Again, just a practice. As an example the object list might say bell. What did you picture? Bells can look a lot of different ways. As I typed this I thought of one of those bells that one used to ding for service. But it could be a bell like the liberty bell, or a school bell. You don’t always know. So in addition to letting go of not being able to see it because I THINK it is not there or I can never find it, I have to be open to recognizing what it might actually look like.
Ha. Just had a thought . . . just right now as I am typing . . . these ideas can be tied to Nia. Nia is not familiar to a lot of people so some think they will not get a good workout in a Nia class. Well, if that is what you think . . . then that is what you will get. If you walk in knowing it is a good workout then you will be able to participate fully. Also, when the participate releases the idea of what a workout “SHOULD” look like, they will be surprised that our skipping, moving, bending, dancing, etc. is great exercise.
So yeah, the theory can be applied to a lot of things so in some cases, when you don’t have a spouse to “see” it for you, you can be aware of the phenomenon and work to counteract it for yourself.
So are you aware of this phenomenon? Do you feel like this happens to you?
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