The Past Has Passed

by Aranyakananda

I would say a good chunk of the stress we experience in life is directly related to things that we expect to happen. Things we sit up at night worrying about. It is irrational, because, well, logically, the object of our concern has not happened!

But I think that to worry about that which has already happened is just as illogical. And I know people like to say that you shouldn’t worry about that which has already happened and the reason is that “there isn’t much you can do about it now.”

And, okay that’s fine. But I have a better reason.

Not worrying about that which has already happened is illogical because the event in question is out of your way. The potential stumbling block has removed itself from the path. It is now in your rear-view mirror. You are now free of that thing hanging over your head! It is a small amount of liberation! You can choose whether you want to stare at it in the rear-view and let it continue to be a stumbling block, or risk driving off the road completely.

If a world-shaking event in your life has just happened, sure, you are still working on the fallout of this event. But we make this fallout worse by worrying about it rather than realizing that it is over now. Most of the fallout is created on the spot by the mind affected by the original event.

OM, Yada, Yada, Vishnave Namah!