A question about pleasant thoughts

[JonW]

"I was kinda hung up on this notion that mindfulness was only about the present moment, and this somehow didn't allow me to have pleasant thoughts about the past or future. I thought that it was "unmindful" to look forward to my wife coming home, or to reminisce about good times in the past."

Gareth raises a very interesting question here.
My take on it is that it's perfectly "mindful" to find oneself looking forward to one's partner coming home. It's a very pleasant thought. it might lead one to think about putting some fresh flowers on the table by way of welcome, or maybe think about preparing a nice meal. To me that's simply having a thought and acting on it. It's different from being caught up in a cascade of unpleasant, unhelpful thoughts.
In Coming To Our Senses, Jon Kabat-Zinn writes, "Applying mindfulness in the moment of contact, at the point of contact, we can rest in the opennness of pure seeing, without getting so caught up in our highly conditioned, reactive, and habitual thinking or in a stream of disturbance in the feeling realm, which of course only leads to more disturbance and turbulence of mind, and carries us away from any chance of appreciating the bare actuality of what is, or, for that matter, or responding to it in an effective and authentic way."
Maybe an example of "mindless" thinking would be to start looking forward to one's partner coming home, then thinking about a row you had last month, then worrying about whether the relationship is in good shape etc.
I'm not sure it's about choosing between "good" thoughts and "bad" thoughts. It's more about being aware when one is being carried away by the turbulent thought stream.
I'd be interested to hear what everyone else has to say on this subject.
All best, Jon

[rara]

Yeah, I think you're getting it. If you want to get flowers for your partner, go for it. Just make sure you pay attention to her reaction as she receives them, and to the rom-com you may watch together after. You will then learn even more about her, and yourself guaranteed!!