> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.gilespcroft.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Trains of thought - URL: https://www.gilespcroft.com/trains-of-thought/ - Published: 2025-12-18T07:00:55.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-01T00:04:21.000Z - Description: Maybe the most helpful, cure-all metaphor you'll hear 🚂 - Author: Giles P Croft - Tags: Thought realisation, Psychology, #weekly-digest, Stress, Mental Health, Moods, Principles, Real stories, Free will, Habit change, Life change, Presence, MECHANICS > *“I love this analogy so helpful… over the last few years it has changed EVERYTHING for me.”* \~ Julie, UK In yesterday's Daily Reminder, we looked at how particularly hurtful, repetitive thoughts and feelings can be understood, and alleviated, by thinking about [how clocks work](https://www.gilespcroft.com/the-ticking-clock/). 🕙 It's a metaphor that came to mind while I was working with a client, who was experiencing a really sticky thought like this themselves. And while it really landed for them, it did lead to a question (a common one): > *“How? *How* do I ignore thoughts like that?”* Now, putting aside the fact that this is *exactly* how you would expect a mind—that [genuinely believes it's in charge](https://www.gilespcroft.com/go-away/) and feels it has to *do* something—to respond, let's look at another helpful metaphor. A practical one. ## ‘Trains of thought’ It's a saying we're all familiar with, isn't it? It signifies a succession of connected thoughts (and appeared in literature a full 100 years before trains were even a thing)! 😯 At the risk of mixing my metaphors here, one of my mentors describes thoughts like rabbits – put a couple of them together and before you know it, you've got loads! And this is what a negative train of thought can be like. There's a whole string of carriages connected. 🚂🚋🚋🚋🚋🚋 We have a thought, maybe one [we're quite familiar with](https://www.gilespcroft.com/the-insert-topic-here-thought/), and before we know it, we're busy thinking about our thinking, > *“Oh no, not again! Aaargh, what's wrong with me? Oh I'm sick of this. What should I do? Should I read something? Speak to someone about it? I need to get a handle on this don't I? Or some help. No, maybe I'll watch some TV/have a glass of wine/eat something…”* …and on it goes. **A train of thought.** --- But what if we saw that literally as being on a train? Might that help? It could look something like this: We [notice from our feelings](https://www.gilespcroft.com/what-are-anxious-feelings-telling-us/) that we're off-track and we think, *“Ooh, I'm on a train here, aren't I? A train of thought.”* Now, because this train of thought is maybe one we're quite familiar with, we know *exactly* where it goes. It goes nowhere good. So what do we do? 🏃‍♀️ ****We get off.** We don't go there. (This is as close to ‘[free will](https://www.gilespcroft.com/tag/free-will/)’ as I'm willing to go – think of it more as ‘free won't’ 😆) Because as we [learned yesterday](https://www.gilespcroft.com/the-ticking-clock/), “there are a kajillion *other* thoughts up for grabs, *all the time*” – in other words, there'll be another train; a different thought will be along shortly. Any thought. But we have to get *off* the one we're on, first. In fact, we can wait at the station instead, on the platform, watching all the trains come and go, aware that we can (and will) get on or off any of them at any time. It's profoundly liberating. ## Will it cure everything? Hey, never say never, but from experience, that's unlikely. What it *will* do, is start improving things for you *immediately.* (→ Whenever you do it, basically. Our entire experience is Thought, remember?) And because you're human, you'll notice two more things: 1. You get off one train, and a couple of minutes later, you find that **you're on another one**, dammit! 🤨 (→ So you get off again.) 2. The trains often have a **comfortable familiarity** to them. Plush seating. Table service with nice food. ☺️ (→ But you remember that a First Class ticket to *Shitsville* still ultimately takes you to *Shitsville*… So you get off again.) And because you're built to thrive, you'll notice this, too: 1. The more you do this, the **easier it gets**; you'll spend way more time at the station, **being**, on the platform; find yourself on far **fewer rubbish trains**, and get off those **a lot quicker**, when you do. (→ Hey, maybe it *is* the cure for everything?) 😉 Giles SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY REMINDERS newsletter [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/2025/12/DR_Lockup-Black-1.png)](#/portal/signup) Want to start **your* days with helpful, insightful content like this? The Daily Reminder is a quick, lighthearted email that arrives in your inbox, to help keep you grounded in reality, so that you get to **‘Think less, and live more.’* **“They feel like a moment of stillness in a world of madness.” \~* Neil, UK **“One of those small things with big impact. Honestly, just sign up!”* \~ Paula, UK [GET YOURS NOW ](#/portal/signup) ### Related [Metaphor - The Daily RemindersUsing symbolic imagery to side-step the intellect and allow you to realise something of your True Nature 🎭![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/icon/DR_Lockup-Black-3-36dde533-4ab5-4416-81ca-f26393b47497.png)The Daily Reminders![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/thumbnail/Topic-image---Metaphor-19f21e90-a7dc-4267-b7b1-d503703a05b6.jpg)](https://www.gilespcroft.com/tag/metaphor/) Discover more cool metaphors on the Daily Reminders website