Don't Let The Tree Take Root

Thought are just thoughts. Let them go.

Nov 06, 2020

“Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.” ~Eckhart Tolle

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned over the past 7 years and one that I truly hope I can pass on to my children is how to handle worry and negative thoughts.

There is this idea that thoughts have power over you - they don’t.

Thoughts emerge from our consciousness and go away as easily as they appear. Thoughts are often misleading and you’ll find that most are not very useful.

Our minds like to believe that our thoughts are correct. It is when we identify and attach ourselves to these thoughts that we stumble. We have the ability to not analyze our thoughts, or worry about them. And with practice, we can learn to stop giving them attention or letting them hang around. In other words, stop giving them roots.

I started practicing mindfulness and meditation about seven years ago when I had the same issues. I gave my thoughts major roots. In fact, while working in New York I had years where I was lucky if I slept four hours a night. I was letting what ifs and worries overwhelm me.

Mindfulness became a life changing tool that helped me learn that thoughts can simply be acknowledged and let go. You realize that thoughts are just thoughts and you have the power to choose to give attention to only the ones you want.

Your goal is not to erase all thoughts from your mind but to simply acknowledge those you don’t like and then let them go.

You can start doing this with just a simple five minute exercise each day. Here’s how I started:

I would put on one of my favorite mellow songs. (I choose Toes by the Glass Animals. You can choose anyone you like.)

During that song I take a comfy seat and simply close my eyes focusing only on the rise and fall of my breath. When thoughts come - good or bad (and they will) I just let them go and return to focus on my breathing. Your mind (like mine) will wander - it’s perfectly normal and my mind wanders to this day. Once you realize, you just go back to following your breath.

Pretty soon you’ll start to become aware of your thoughts and the power of letting them go. That’s it. See how you feel. Then repeat this tomorrow. Who knows after a few days maybe you’ll want to increase to two songs and ten minutes.

I sound like a broken record but this five minute exercise allows you the ability to set small goals and create good habits.

Training your mind to recognize and let go of worrisome thoughts takes practice but once you realize your thoughts don’t have control over you and can easily pass, it’s life changing.

Remember thoughts come and go. Choose to let the ones you don’t like take a walk - don’t give them roots.

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