No worries

I'm on Lesson 8 in A Course in Miracles.  The book found its way into my hands a few weeks ago and I'm completely immersed in it now.  Today's lesson is "My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts." Part of the exercise is to close your eyes and observe your thoughts: "I seem to be thinking about..."  Each time I've done this today, I've found a continuous stream of thought entering my mind.  Some thoughts involved worry or discontent, others happiness, others anticipation.  Its amazing the amount of useless thoughts that enter into our minds. I say useless because thoughts of the past (worries, fears, concerns, even those of happiness) serve no purpose.  What has happened in the past is over and done. And to talk of the future is even more unnecessary because there is no future. An interesting concept, which I was also baffled by when it first came to me. But, the future is only our mind projecting something that is not there. The future hasn't happened yet.  When it does, it is no longer the future, it is the present.  This brings up the concept that Time does not exist, which is why in yoga practice, we are so often saying, "calm your mind, be present." The present is the only place in which you can be.  But its the mind cannot grasp this.  Its that "Monkey Mind," the phrase that one of my yoga colleagues coined, that takes us on trips to the past and into the future.  When the mind is calm, the present is possible. While we live in a world that requires us to plan ahead, learn from our mistakes, and get to places at appointed times, being aware of and accepting the present moment, quiets those thoughts that preoccupy our minds and cause us undo stress and worry.  There are no worries.