Where do the thoughts come from? The voice in our heads' dialogue is constant and repetitive. The thoughts come in without us making any effort consciously and then we listen and judge if we are going to follow that thought or go on to another thought.
At times we make a judgment on our emotions depending on our thoughts. When we do this we are usually just following the continual chatter instead of examining if there is any real substance to the thought.
Is it true?
How's it important?
Can it be helpful?
Will it lead to a resolution?
The mind always has something to say to us and is never really silent for long. Really listening to our thoughts for a moment can help you to understand that thoughts are constant and repetitive.
Question where a thought may have sprung from - was it yours? Or did it come from somewhere else? Was it from emotion or intuition? Maybe it came from your memory.
This helps you to become aware that most of your thoughts are not who you are but rather how you relate to your world. Therefore you can release the need to take all your thoughts as fact, as most are pure assumptions.
Listening.
Being mindful of what thoughts you pay attention to and what ones you can just ignore takes practice and patience. Mindfulness is paying attention in the moment about what thoughts are helpful and what ones are not, or are just repetitive.
Give it a go for a few moments and notice how many thoughts are helpful, how many are repetitive, how many are just a waste of time or negative, and how many are emotionally based.
You will never be free of thoughts but you have absolute power over what ones consume your energy when you listen for a moment and don’t take yourself to seriously.