I Thought…

You are never alone. Thoughts are always with you. They are present every moment. They can take you light years away. A ticket-less travel into the past and the future.

Over years, what I have realised is that thoughts ruin your present.

It sounds strange at first. After all, thoughts feel natural. They feel like you. But if you observe closely, they are constantly pulling you away—from what is happening right now—into what has already happened or what might happen.

“Can you sit down at a place for 5 minutes completely without thoughts?”, I usually ask.

Many can’t.

“Why? It’s such an easy task, isn’t it?”, they think.

But that itself is a thought.

That is where it becomes interesting. The very attempt to stop thinking turns into thinking. The mind doesn’t stop—it simply changes direction.

Regrets, memories, fears, pride, jealousy, disgust, cravings, aspirations—the mind just cannot be empty.

We often believe we are in control of our thoughts. But try this simple exercise—sit still for five minutes and do nothing. No phone, no music, no distractions.

Just sit.

And watch.

Within seconds, something will appear. A memory. A worry. A random idea. A plan. Something you forgot to do. Something you wish you had done differently.

The flow doesn’t stop.

And that is when you realise—thoughts are always there. Not invited, not controlled, just present.

They travel freely. They take you from past to future without effort. But in doing so, they quietly take away your present.

So what do we do?

Do we fight thoughts? Do we try to shut them down?

That doesn’t work.

Cultivating the mind to empty it is meditation.