Within the human heart, we all feel the call to be simple, to be present, to be real. Yet throughout the day, the world urges us to be at war with ourselves and each other: Be resentful about the past. Be anxious about the future. Be hungry for what you dont see. Be dissatisfied with you do see. Be guilty. Be important. Be bored. Be right.

For example, the people who are in our lives today, are in our lives today. What can be simpler than this? Yet so often we react to those we encounter with a mind churning in conflict? We dont want them here. We can think of other people we would rather have here. Were not even sure we want to be here. When will this be over? Why does this always happen to us. And so on and on.

When we become proccupied with what we want or dont want from someone, or what we do or dont approve of. We fail to see that persons goodness, malice, gentleness, sadness, or anything else that is present.

Little children have very few if any unnecessary thoughts, and thats why they are usually focused, present, and happy.

Our live are filled with useless battles because our minds are filled with useless thoughts. We carry unhappy scenes from the past as if they were still happening. This glut of thoughts profoundly affects the world we perceive and the life we live.