Throughout life, I have had many irrational thoughts pop up in my headspace. For a long time, I would believe that they were real and that the only way of fixing them was to express them in an unhealthy way to someone I trusted to or who they were directed for because I had believed that was the best way to dissolve those thoughts.

Lately, I have learned that they are only thoughts and that most of them are not true or are even valid because they were part of my past of what I was led to believe, or they just don’t exist in the way that they do. I now realize that they are just thoughts and realize not to recognize them just as much as I have in the past.

It hasn’t been easy as I can be certain that many in similar circumstances as I experience these feelings in the same way. It can result in a negative connotation because one is allowing themselves to be consumed in these thoughts, of which can be repetitive and rule their life because they think that they matter and need to sometimes be acted on.

Sometimes these thoughts can be brought in a false light that make me think of a person that no one would believe that I am. Deep down I know that I am a wonderful person that is loved and cared of by many, but there are those moments when my brain could think otherwise and if I tend to believe them, would convey them to those who I can trust the most because they know that I do it and I don’t mean it.

But, what if there was a world where these thoughts aren’t there? There can be great satisfaction in not having them as severe and there are times when they are not so severe that they are not the only thing that I think about. But it is a mind behavior where I have to work at realizing that the thoughts that I am experiencing are just thoughts. They don’t mean anything because they are probably not valid or exist anymore regardless of if they are intrusive (past experiences) or irrational (not true), while it be difficult to not let your emotions get in the mix, it is knowing that there is a better side to everything, and time will pass too much.

However, it brings peace to my mind when I realize that I have control over what I allow to be real versus what is not. That means not allowing the intrusive or invalid thoughts to bring me down where I think for extended periods of time of being able to go back and fix them, because I cannot. I must learn to live with the world the way that it is, not the way that I want it to, because it is impossible to do so and will only generate additional energy that I do not need. Therefore, learning to understand that thoughts are just thoughts by determining what I choose to invest in or not is key for maintaining my mental health.