Even when your thoughts are completely calmed, you are still very much aware. The thoughts and sensations come and go, and behind them all is your ever-present awareness.

The thoughts you have are the thoughts you choose to hold. They are not you.

Although you may have been stuck in a negative, destructive thought pattern for years or even for decades, you always have the choice of letting it go. For ultimately, your thoughts do not create you or define you, and they do not have to hold you hostage.

When you know that you do not have to think, then you are free to think whatever you choose. When you experience your thoughts and sensations as objects flowing through your awareness, then they no longer have the power to hold you back.

Your mind is an enormously powerful tool that is yours to use as you choose. Cultivate awareness beyond your thoughts, and put all those thoughts to use in a positive, meaningful way.