How Bad Thoughts Are Like Infectious Pigs

I woke up, as I often do, with an unshakable sense of dread.

I lay in bed for as long as I could, hoping the feeling would pass. But it didn’t, so I got dressed, went upstairs and made myself some breakfast. I put on soothing music and lay down on the couch. But still, a thousand negative thoughts kept racing through my head.

Desperately wanting to escape the thoughts, I began to meditate, trying to focus only on my breath. It was difficult at first — the thoughts kept rearing their ugly heads, but eventually, I was able to calm my mind. And a different kind of thought occurred to me: these thoughts are just infectious pigs.

They race around in the field of my mind, making it a very unpleasant place to be. But my mind is not limited to the field. It is the endless sky above the ground, and by meditating, focusing solely on the breath, I can rise above the field and leave the pigs behind to fight amongst themselves. I can float above them — watching, but not being bothered by them in the least.

Because pigs will never fly the way I can.