We think practically nonstop, all day long, every day of our lives.
For example, you might have a series of thoughts while driving to work “Oh God, today is going to be really horrible. I’ve got six meetings and must finish those two reports by noon. I dread seeing Yogee because he will still be angry about the disagreement we have yesterday.”
At this point, essentially only one of two things can happen. You can either take the thoughts seriously, start feeling worried, think about them some more, analyze how difficult your life has become, feel sorry for yourself, and so forth. Or if you recognize what has just happened, if you are consciously aware that you’ve just had a mini “thought attack,” you can simply remind yourself that all that has occurred is yet another series of thoughts has traveled through your mind.
You’re not even at work yet you’re still driving in the car!
This doesn’t mean that your day is going to be trouble-free or that you’re pretending all is well and good. But think of how illogical it is to be having a bad day at work before your day officially begins.
It’s ludicrous – but that’s precisely what most of us do all day long. We have thought after thought after thought. Yet we forget that it’s thought. We treat it as real.
