Some more thoughts that came to me that I wanted to share:

The world, and life, is full of external influences, all of which can potentially directly impact us ... the weather, traffic on the roads, the checkout people at your local grocery store, the people at your job, to name a few.

How then, can we expect a smooth and carefree worry-free life unaffected by these influences ? In other words, if we look for things to worry us, there is an infinite supply of them ! The point is to ***be smart and selective about which of those influences you let into your mind and heart***, and to expect and accept a certain level of risk when dealing with life. Because, if you leave yourself unprotected to all these influences, you are open to attack at anytime and from anywhere !

It is a normal part of living on this Earth to run into difficulty. So, we must ***pick our battles***. It is a given that we are going to run into hardship. So, why then, do we get all anxious and bent out of shape when it happens ?

If you ask me, the reason, again, is that we let down our guard ... we trust that an experience is going to be a good one, that people are going to treat us well, that doctors are going to fix us, whatever. Then, when things don't work out as expected, things go from WHITE to BLACK ! Black and white thinking

The approach taught by the book "The Power of Now" is to not let your mind and body waste away your emotion on insignificant everyday struggles, but to keep that emotion in check, and ***consciously choose to feel it when the time is right ... example, when we are in love with someone and we want to express that love for them***.

If the mind is given full control, it will waste away precious energy and emotion on insignificant matters, leaving us drained and exhausted. So, it is important to step away from the mind and harness it as a tool to be used when required, but not left running loose all day long.