Living

 

Do you live in the past...  the present...  or the future?

I would suggest to you that most of us live in the present and sometimes get the shoebox out that holds the photos of the past and sift through them to remember what went well.

When we look at the past through photos or throughout memories, we are tainted by what we think we remember, not the reality of what actually happened.

This is true for horrific memories as well.  The heart of this horrific memory is REAL and AUTHENTIC, but the details that surround it, fade or grow with time; if they grow, they are typically distorted to make them worse than they were.

Because we inflate these memories, we tend to forget them or minimize their authenticity to better cope with our present behavior.

My bad memories of my childhood are hardly worth thinking about now and when I do, they are neutral in their mental impact on my consciousness...  when that happens, they are no longer worth thinking about.

As far as the future is concerned, none of us know what is going to happen TWENTY YEARS FROM NOW, but we are all smart enough to PLAN FOR several contingencies.

It is this planning and the re-evaluation of this planning that MIGHT, when the future gets here that SAVES OUR LIVES both financially and mentally.

SO...

• thrive in the present
• reflect on the past cautiously and carefully
• plan for the future
• live everyday as if it is your last