Your Mind's River

Caribou National Forest is wispy waterfalls meeting lazy rivers, wild horses dwarfed by crinkled, snow-capped mountains, and gravel roads cutting through jungle-like fields of green.

I'm not big on having background noise just for the sake of having background noise. And I'm not knocking it – I've just never been one to turn on the tv the minute I walk through the door or blast it while washing dishes or vacuuming. But I think I'm starting to understand why some may do that. Lately, I've been getting this really sad song stuck in my head. Yup, there it goes again, right on cue. And instead of letting my mind take me on a ride I don't want to be on, deep into the depths of darkness and suffering, I go to YouTube and put on a song that makes me happier, a welcome distraction — replacing the bad feeling with some feel-good music. And it works, time and time again. I keep Youtubing "Row Jimmy" performed live by the Grateful Dead on 6/14/91. (But any song that brings joy to you should do.)

So next time, I'm going to take that thinking a few steps further, applying that same mentality to disruptive thoughts. I think we tend to take our thoughts more seriously than need be because we've created them, so it makes them feel credible and worth having. But not all thoughts are. In fact, most are anything but trustworthy or even worth listening to. They're often downright disadvantageous and destructive. I won't call it "policing" because that sounds too harsh, too aggressive – even refereeing feels too intimidating. But perhaps let's think of it as just witnessing or watching our thoughts. If you observe them, you can choose whether or not you want to hold onto them, take a closer look, embrace them, or simply let them float on by…down the river like holey lily pads, useless, not solid enough to hold any weight. Being that witnessing presence within your own mind brings a new level of self-awareness and enlightenment.

Sure, sometimes, you'll dive into the river of your mind, chasing after those counterproductive thoughts, but as soon as you realize it, just pull yourself right back out, and start forming the habit of doing so. It's catching yourself in the act of buying into a hurtful thought, then choosing to let it go. Ask yourself, "Does this thought serve me? Is it benefiting me? Bringing me any kind of joy or benefit? Is this self-love?" If the answer is no, then render it useless and let it float downstream, without judging or berating yourself. Because judgment would just be adding more useless thoughts.

So when you feel yourself latching onto the lyrics of some song that resonates in a painful way or clutching a recurring, negative thought, you don't have to let it snowball into something heavy and horrible. Instead, sit on your mind's riverbank under a big, beautiful tree and watch all the thoughts float away. Choose peace. And remember that each new moment is a chance to begin again.