Notice what the mind says is real, important and worth your attention. Mental thoughts focus your perception on external worlds, on a sense of a future state or circumstance to work toward. Observe the range of emotions you feel and what they point toward.
Notice the essence of being is here in the stillness and awareness amidst all else. What is self-evident in the mind distracts you from what is ever-present beyond it. To quiet the mind reveals another kind of stepping stone. Intuition allows the unveiling of inner activities and that which has no name. That which is validates itself in silence.
"No one remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself." -Thomas Mann