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You are aware of your thoughts. So, in that respect, they may seem real to you. But, your thoughts do not exist outside of your awareness. There is nowhere else where the thought that is appearing to you at this moment is actually happening. Unlike the way we imagine it, our thoughts are not tangible, like the physical world outside of us. Maybe you can attest to this, but I’ve never seen a thought walk by me on the street. So, we should be able to wrap our heads around the notion that our thoughts are NOT real.
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What makes a thought feel real is the attention you bring to it. You transform a thought into a physical manifestation by focusing on it and relating to it as if it is an event happening in the world somewhere. Usually within the world of the person or thing that we are thinking about. Does that make sense?
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Well, think about it. This happens when you link the thought and the object that the thought is about when in actuality these two are not remotely connected. Your thought does NOT affect the object of that thought unless you believe that it really does. Once you come to this realization, it will allow you to free yourself from your thoughts. No longer will you be burdened by attending to a thought, answering it, changing it, identifying with it, and everything else that comes along with it because it will literally cease to exist. If you let a thought become nothing, then that’s what it ultimately will be…nothing.
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So, next time a thought appears before you, within your awareness, remember that it’s not real in the sense that it has some physical form or exists somewhere outside of you. The contents of what you’re thinking about are in no way affected by the fact this thought is arising in you, nor is anyone aware that it’s happening in your internal world. The thought appears in front of and within only you, therefore without your undivided attention, it simply disappears into thin air.
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Remember, thoughts are just thoughts. Thoughts are not facts. Thoughts are not always meaningful. The important thing is not what thoughts you may have, it's what you do and how you react when you have these thoughts.