We have thoughts all the time and I am reminded of the story of a trainee Buddhist Monk who was directed by his teacher to go up to a quiet spot on a montain fro the day and empty his mind and think about nothing. The young Monk did as he was told and came back to the monastery and told his teacher that he failed becasue he couldn;t stop thinking of things and situations. The following day the teacher told the trainee to go up the mountain agan and spend the day thinking of things, none stop. The trainee did as he was bid and returned at the end of the day. The teacher asked how he had got on and the young Monk said, “I have failed again. Most of the time I couldn’t think of what to think about!”.
This is similar to some of the things I have been told when learning and practicing mindfulness. ‘Thoughts are not facts’ and ‘don’t believe everthing you think’.
When meditating, it is suggested that you treat thoughts like the water in a river and as you sit on the bank the thoughts are allowed to flow down the stream and disappear. Certainly, in my view, allowing thoughts to enter your mind and then leave, unhindered, is the goal and the trick is not to let the mind develop the thought that enters and resolve what ever issue comes with it. Peace of mind then ensues in the moment between one thought leaving and another entering, as it surely will.
This is living in the moment, remembering that the moment before has passed and whatever occurred during that moment cannot be changed and the next moment hasn’t occurred. Hence the present moment is the door to all future moments. We can use these thoughts that come to our mind to plan what we would want to do and use the moments between thoughts to just be and allow the next thought, whatever it is and without influence, to arrive.