Different thoughts have different consequences

We are all probably familiar with the technique of distracting ourselves with some activity to avoid something painful in our lives - perhaps we are facing social misery of some sort. We give the brain a less stressful thought process to keep it occupied and it feels nice not to think about the other crap in our life. So, if we take a little step back and see what's going on, we find that emotionally charged thoughts about things we cannot solve place our bodies and minds into a stressful place. The unfixable nature of the situation churns us up - not nice. On the flip side, thoughts about activities where we do reach closure - perhaps we plan an activity, or we review something we have done successfully - these thoughts bring a sense of openness to our whole being.

The next step is realising that all thoughts are transient things and there is no imperative to think a particular thought. We can choose which way we direct our mind. Perhaps this seems like an impossible task, but all it takes is a little practice and a realisation that our thoughts are not entirely beyond our control.

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