Okay me, listen up:
You’re fine.
I object.
That’s why you suffer.
Because I object?
Yep. ...Because you’re fine and you don’t believe it.
Consider it: How are you not fine?
Because something troubling has happened and that means something troubling is going to happen? Because, in your mind, you see bad things in the past and bad things coming in the future?
Imagination.
“Past/future” means “not now.” And since “not now” can only exist in the mind, “past” and “future” are imaginary.
You suffer because you are prioritizing your imagination over your reality, which is now. You’re missing the reality, the gift of this moment, where you are perfectly fine, now.
This is not about denial. This is about whether or not you suffer.
It’s not about pretending there is nothing your my past. It’s not about surrendering all your hopes and desires for the future, it’s about freeing yourself to operate freely in the real world - the world without your story, right here and now, unburdened by past or future.
When you surrender your imaginary past and future and return to the reality of now, your whole world, including your past and future, falls right into place.