Shakespeare gave great importance to thought, so much so that he describes:-

“Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so.” As you think, so you become. If you go on thinking constantly that you are weak and miserable and down trodden, no one can put strength and vigor in you. If you think yourself divine which in reality you are, you can achieve your highest ideal. You have got the immense power within you to accomplish any task you wish to undertake. All you have to do is to undertake thoughts which give you strength and faith in yourself. If you disbelieve in the reality of sickness even when you are ill, an unrecognizable visitor will flee. If you believe that He who is an eternal help is always with you – nay you are He, you will face any hardship in life boldly.

An army of soldiers was defeated and they didn’t know how to conquer the enemy. There was a retired General. So it was decided to go to him to seek his advice. He said that there was a temple of goddess. We would go there and take her blessings. If the blessings are showered on us, we should attack the enemy and the victory would be yours. They all went there and then the General said, “I would toss a coin before the Goddess. If the head comes up you have got the blessings of the Goddess and victory will be yours. Otherwise the idea of attack will have to be abandoned.” Coin was tossed and all the soldiers were jubilant to find out that head turned up. They all shouted with joy, “We have got the blessings of the Goddess and we would attack and conquer the enemy.”

With all valour and high spirits, they made a thunderous attack over the enemy. After a fierce battle they defeated the enemy. They were overjoyed and went to the General to express their gratitude. The General suggested them to go to the Goddess and pay their homage. Arriving there, they were surprised to find the coin still there shining in the sun with its head. One of them picked up the coin and was amazed to see that head was on both sides of the coin.

Then the General said that it was their own faith in themselves, it was the thought of strength in themselves which vanquished the enemy and they were crowned with victory.

So it is the thought which dampens your spirit and makes you miserable and again it is the thought which is the harbinger of noble deeds. Always watch your thoughts. Let them not overpower you.

Consider how you could modify your thinking. Consider what happens when you let the mind run wild? Does it lead to any solution? If the answer is no, do a quick version of Vishvas Meditation — this will put your life in perspective, make your priorities clear and stop the incessant chatter in your brain. Meditation is a process of becoming a witness to the inner phenomena where thoughts gradually stop overpowering you.

In an ordinary mind thoughts are undirected, vague, leading nowhere. Mind moves like a madman. One thought leads to another without any direction from you; try to go back from your thinking to where the thought came. Go back retrace the steps, and then you will see that another thought was there and that led to this and they are not logically connected. The thought itself leads to another because of association. There is no logical connection-only association in your mind.

What we need to understand is that the problem is not the thought. It is the identification with unnecessary thoughts that lead to negative states such as stress, depression etc. Thus, the solution lies in dis-identification.

As you sit in meditation, simply witnessing the mind's play — no identification, no involvement, no suppression, no concentration — you start withdrawing your energy from the mind. All unnecessary thoughts begin to dissolve and you start regaining your awareness, awakening and mastership over the mind. You become more familiar with the working of your mind, enabling you to be the master of you thoughts and that means you live your life more intelligently and blissfully.”