The modern world is accelerating. AI is taking hold of every industry. Climate change action is still an unknown. Society can be stressful. It’s tempting to take a pill. Anxieties melt away with one gulp. But this only kicks the can down the road. The unpleasant thoughts don’t go away when they’re ignored—they just build up. The opportunity to hear what the thoughts are saying vanishes. The potential for contemplation and self-growth disappears.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about a song from Australian rapper The Kid Laroi. The song is called “NOT SOBER.” In it, Laroi details how he uses alcohol to combat feeling sad. Polo G and Stunna Gambino are featured on the song as well. This is a group of very young musicians: as of this writing, Laroi is 20, Polo G is 24, and Stunna Gambino is 22—but the song came out two years ago. My heart goes out to these musicians, who talk about needing to self-medicate at such a young age.

If you’ve been prescribed Xanax by a doctor who knows you need it, great! But if you’re using Xanax or other substances to self-medicate away difficult thoughts, I urge you to reconsider. I’m not anti-drugs when they’re used in moderation; it’s that the thoughts return stronger and more insistent when they’re ignored. Instead of running from your mind, why not listen to it?

Society tells us to ignore our thoughts. You might think listening to your thoughts makes you weak. You might see acceptance as giving in, proof that you’re not as strong as you thought. Listening to your thoughts might make you feel powerless.

But underneath all of those thoughts is the master thought: it’s all just thinking. No matter how difficult the thought is, it doesn’t reflect your physical reality: breakfast, tying your shoes, closing a door. Your thoughts can be difficult, but observing any object in your environment shows you another way: stepping out of thinking completely.

When you realize thoughts are just thinking and cannot do anything to you in the real world—that they can’t grab your leg or rip your shirt—you become free from those thoughts. When things become difficult inside your mind, you can return to the world in front of you, where thoughts have no meaning. This is how presence can tangibly help us. When things become hard, focus on the details in your surroundings. Soak in the moment as it is. Focus on how your outer landscape doesn’t reflect the chaos within. With presence, you can step outside of the thoughts and into the world.