Article April 13, 2020 Issue

Leave the ruminating to the cows

Kim Hedge

Originally published in The Christian Science Monitor’s Christian Science Perspective column January 22, 2020.

Do you ever get stuck mulling over an idea, imagining all the different ways it could play out, or replaying a conversation and thinking of all the ways you could have responded better? Or when you think about a person (or even yourself), do you sometimes get stuck dwelling on something they did wrong, rather than the 95 percent of things they do right?

Sometimes when I find myself doing this, it almost feels as if I’m not in control of my own thinking. I get so focused on that one thing that I become almost mesmerized by it. I just keep turning it over and over, ruminating on it.

Rumination is a term used to describe the eating process of cows and other ruminant animals, including sheep, goats, deer, elk, buffalo, giraffes, and camels. These animals have four stomach compartments and can store food so they can come back to it later to chew on it again, which is called chewing the cud.

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