If it comes, it will go. You decide.

If I asked you to close your eyes for a moment and think about purple cows singing a song for you, you’ll most likely be thinking of the song.

Regardless of how ridiculous it sounds, you still probably can’t get the singing purple cows out of your head.

Why?

Because the idea has already seeped in and now, it’s up to you to focus or not on this thought.?

Often, when we’re stressed about something in our life, we wish for our thoughts to go away. If it doesn’t work, we try to escape our thoughts or not have any at all.

But that’s not helpful.?

Practicing mindfulness doesn’t grant you any superpower to block your thoughts but it helps you choose between thoughts you should focus on and the ones you must let go of. It allows you to become more self-aware.

With this heightened self-awareness, you have increasing regard for what is happening in your environment and how it is impacting you.

Mindfulness doesn’t resist thought but it helps you determine which thoughts to accept and which ones to reject.

The art of mindfulness is concerned with mastering the ability to shift your thinking pattern or process as soon as you identify that a particular thought is no longer serving you.?

The best way to hone our minds to understand thoughts accurately is to start within and sit with them. Through active mindfulness, we can expand our awareness of our thought process and how it’s affected by the environment.

Once we’re able to identify our thinking patterns, it gives us the liberty to accept them before making any judgments. It allows us to see what stories do we tell ourselves as an outcome.?

Observing our thoughts and just being present with them empowers us to appreciate thoughts for what it is. A fleeting musing.

And with our increased awareness gained from practicing mindfulness, we’re able to relax when we identify a negative thought passing through knowing that if it comes, it will go too.?