The job of the heart is to pump blood. The job of the lungs is to suck air. The job of the brain is to make thoughts. The lungs and the heart work ALL the time and never turn off. Same. The brain never stops making thoughts. That’s it’s job.
This can be hard to live with!
Sometimes (a lot of times maybe), we want the thoughts to stop. Yet getting your brain to stop making thoughts is really, really hard it turns out. People practice meditation and try to “empty the mind,” yet another strategy is to “change the mind.”
When troubling thoughts are streaming in, I try to replace the troubling thoughts with peaceful thoughts. I intentionally manufacture fun things to think about. I actually DO fun things so the planning and the doing and the reflecting all take up space in my brain. Not only do I try to see my glass half-full rather than half-empty, I try to actually fill the glass with good thoughts so there’s no empty space for bad thoughts.
Another strategy: I’ve learned that I have choices about where to look; what I read and view online. Whatever I look at is gonna generate thoughts; that’s the job of the brain. I try to keep that in mind.
What a wonderful reflection! So true… WE HAVE CHOICES on what we decide to think about. IT IS POWERFUL when we can “tack” or “jib” our “brain” sails. And retain control of own personal course. However, we have to practice those skills and actively employ them or otherwise our own brain or someone else’s brain will control the internal direction of our own lives–NOT US. We can not control the direction of the winds in the journey but definitively we can regulate what goes on in our internal boat… we are the captains and our own crew; and we decide the maneuvers and all starts with our brain skills… the rest comes as a pleasant, manageable, unexpected and/or surprising journey.