Overtaken By Thoughtless Thoughts

Overtaken By Thoughtless Thoughts

Thoughts that crop up from the subconscious to fill the empty space in the mind are `thoughtless thoughts'. Mind, by nature, abhors a vacuum. In the absence of thoughtful thinking at the conscious level, thoughtless thoughts emanating from the subconscious invade the mind stealthily. Because you are not in a state of `awareness', you are caught unawares when such thoughts sneak in and settle in the mind to unsettle it.

`Thoughtless thoughts' engage the mind so intensely, without your being aware, that precious energy stored in you gets depleted wastefully. These thoughts are a drain on your energy.Thoughts drift to the past, ruing what you did that you should not have and what you did not do that you should have. They drift to the future, sometimes fantasising and at other times agonising. There are silent dialogues and secret monologues, scripted by thoughtless thoughts. It is intricate to gauge the variety and depth of thoughtless thoughts, more so because they happen when the mind is not aware. Do we revisit our dreams `seen' in the state of sleep after we have woken up?

`Thoughtless thoughts' comprise of negative and not-so-negative thoughts. Feelings of guilt, fear, insecurity , anxiety, neglect, suspicion generate negative thoughts. And they reinforce negative feelings in a vicious circle. When thoughts are persistent and pervasive, the mind is totally immersed and thought reigns supreme. You become the thought, dis connected from the real. When the mind is lost in thought, it starts neglecting others ­ family , friends and colleagues at work.

Lest you become the thought yourself, you have to separate the thought from self and view it with neutrality and amusement. One good way of breaking free from the clutches of thought is by focussing on breathing with awareness. Focus on your breathing and inhale with awareness.

The circuit of thoughtless thoughts will be broken. If you do not break the chain, your mind will be yielding all space to thoughtless thoughts, leaving no room for thoughtfulness. The mind starts reacting, it stops giving a proper response because the mind is fully preoccupied.

Negative thoughts will trigger negative behaviour and action. If negative thoughts prevail for a while, negative impact will follow sooner or later. If the mind is simmering with thoughts of conflict and divergence, as a consequence you will seethe with anger. Words of venom will be spewed from your mouth.

How to escape the trap of thoughtless thoughts? They give you headaches. Inhaling with awareness and focussing on your breathing give you a breather from thoughtless thoughts. Engage yourself in positive thinking. Think of all the positives in your life. While we take all the good things in life for granted, we fret about the little negatives. Let us try to think otherwise.

I am not saying to take negative things for granted, but accept irritants as a challenge, embrace divergence as a means of improving yourself.

Our best contribution to society is leaving a positive impact. Just be aware of thoughtless thoughts, keep them at an arm's length. If you feel overwhelmed by thoughtless thoughts, take some remedial measures. Do not be a passive spectator. As you consciously engage in positive thoughts, positive behaviour and positive action, thoughtless thoughts will disappear, as their diet of negative feelings diminish and vanish. Thoughtless thoughts erode presence of mind, memory and awareness. Fill your mind with thoughtfulness and awareness to keep thoughtless thoughts at bay.

Om Namah Shivay