I have no idea what the actual number is, but some number of people have these things called “intrusive thoughts.” (Personally, my guess is very near all people have them; we just react to them differently.) This is a fancy term for random thoughts that pop into your head that represent unpleasant things you wouldn’t actually do, don’t actually believe, and wouldn’t even consciously choose to think about. They’re little unpleasant impulses or dark images or anything else you might rather not occupy your brain.
We have them because the brain is basically just a huge stimulus-response machine with a teeny tiny little bit of intentional consciousness on top. So a lot of your thoughts are just reactions to things and it’s totally normal to have a bad thought pop into your head.
That doesn’t mean it’s fun.
I like to find constructive ways to use mine. One of the recurring kinds of “intrusive thoughts” that I have is I will find myself writing eulogies for people I care about quite frequently. If I let this thought “win,” I will get very sad, because it will make me dwell on losing people I hold dear.
So I don’t let it win. Instead, I let that eulogy play out a little bit, get the kind words flowing… and then I’ll just say those things to the person. (Minus the context, of course.) See, a eulogy is usually very complimentary! Those same thoughts can make a living person’s day and strengthen our relationship. My mind wanted to take it to a dark place, but the sentiment is anything but.
We often have to ignore or fight against our worst natural impulses to live noble lives. But sometimes we can do one better – we can harvest those very impulses for noble ends.
The Opportunity Machine 