They say if you're given an axe to chop down trees within an hour, you should expend the first 30mins of that 1 hr sharpening the blades of the axe. The essence of this eludes most people. Most folks are recurrently oblivious to the fact that we exist in 2 realms...
the physical(tangible) realm and the mental(or cogitative) realm.
Often times when I speak(which I seldom do) , I hear folks say "that was brilliant or intelligent."
And the interesting part is I might take a whole minute before the inception of my speaking thus if you're not patient enough I might even lose you before I start, but the more immersing part is when I start, you really can not get enough.
What many don't realize is I speak but a fraction of what I think and I discovered that the more cerebral you become the less verbal you are.
Many a time when I'm presented with a herculean task, I mentally work from the beginning to the end of the task before I physically lift a pin.
People need to come to the noesis that the eyes see in 3 dimensions but the mind(seat of cognition& cogitation) sees in 4 dimensions and it is furnished with hindsight, insight and foresight, all of which are handy tools for leading a sapient life. The mind is the most powerful tool a man has but many leave it in abeyance.
Whenever you're mentally analyzing the solution to a task or challenge, you're sharpening the blades of your axe and it saves you a colossus of physical exertion which otherwise would be the case.
There are mistakes(both in words and deeds) that would have been obviated if we had had a preliminary thought about them.
The mind is the only place on this Terra firma where you can converse with, deliberate with and ultimately enlighten your whole being.
Remember the mind is the cardinal seat of individuality (ingenuity, innovation)
The greatest gift to humanity is life after which comes the mind, put this limitless multiplexer to use.
A piece from Eyinnaya Obasi, aka Dr. Awesome