If I learn to accept intrusive thoughts like they’re just clouds floating by, that means I won’t have them anymore, right?

Why do you hate the clouds so much?

You already want the intrusive thoughts to go away, right? And how’s that been working out?

Accepting that the thoughts, feelings, voices, and urges intruding into our heads are nothing but clouds floating by doesn’t mean they have to disappear. Imagine if you wanted the clouds in the sky to go away–you’d probably want to check that they’d actually gone away. And how would you do that? By looking for them? And if you look for clouds in the sky, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find at least one. And then you’ll get upset and anxious because you don’t want there to be any clouds. As long as you desire there to be no clouds, you’re going to be upset when there are clouds. But the problem isn’t with the clouds, it’s with the things you desire.

As long as you don’t want to have intrusive thoughts, your brain will check to make sure that you don’t have them. And then, you’ll have them. Why waste so much time and energy trying to control clouds? Just let them be there.

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