Trapped inside our own heads

It seems to me that we are victims of our minds. Our thoughts travel from one direction to the other and decide for us how we will be feeling. I know deep down that we can choose what we think and feel, but when the wheel starts spinning it seems to take on a life of its own.

One thing that confuses me has to do with what makes me feel good. When I'm on top of the world, so many positive thoughts are flowing through my mind and they all feed on eachother and lead to new wonderful thoughts. Although this is great, am I not still a victim of my mind, which just happens to be filled with positive thoughts now? The second a negative one comes in, can it not just begin to grow and suck me in with it? I don't think I am in the present moment if my stream of thought is still dictating how I will feel, without me consciously choosing the thoughts that come to me. The more I learn the more absurd our ways of thinking and perceiving seem but I can't honestly say I have done more than begin to chip away at my ego.

I don't want the bipolar ups and downs that come with relying on my thoughts. I seek the peace that comes from watching each thought rise and fall, observing them but not getting caught up in them. I'm so sick of thinking all the time. I wonder how many of the headaches and stomach aches that I get are from the stress of constantly thinking and analyzing and trying to figure everything out intellectually. It makes me think of those characters in movies who are very intelligent but insane at the same time, and I think that this is really what our mind can do to us. We value high intelligence but I think it often can be used against us to keep us further from the truth.

This moment I choose peace of mind. It is not "I think therefore I am". It is simply "I am".