TODD ANSWERS: The thing about negative thoughts is that they are neither good nor bad, but clues to something going on below the surface.

Like anything else that’s undesirable, when negative thoughts arise, we can either get mad or sad about it. Or, we can be totally fine about it, accept it, investigate it joyfully, and be at peace with it. It’s all about the response. Do we lose ourselves in the emotions? Or can we watch them peacefully. I actually go into a lot of detail about how to do that in my book, The Way Out of Suffering.