You Can't Subtract A Thought

Anxiety creeps in when we dread what might happen. It is the story we tell ourselves on top of the potential pain.

But it is not enough to say, “Don’t think about the elephant in the room.” If anything, that usually makes the elephant louder.

Maybe the better advice is Tinkerbell’s: think happy thoughts. If you remember the story, that is the only way to fly.

The point is not simply to remove one thought. We need a substitute to fill the void. It does not have to be a happy thought though. It only has to be real enough to hold the space.