Present tense
Posted on April 9, 2007 By OneMysticalMonkey
Recently, somebody close to me was involved in a minor car accident. The other driver – the one causing the crash- was too busy looking in his rear-view mirror while driving across a busy street and into a parking lot, hitting my loved one in the process. In other words, he was too busy focusing on the past to be effective in the present. The immediate physical result of this preoccupation was the driver hitting my loved one. Fortunately, it was only a minor scrape and nobody was injured. But how unusual is this situation – on the road, and off? How often do we find ourselves focussed on the past -some past event, some past “wrong”, some situation that we rehash in our minds, tearing our emotions and sometimes our bodies apart? And if we are not focused on the past, perhaps we dwell instead on the future? How often do we allow either situation to affect our present? Do we do justice to our present, or those involved with us in the present, to be so preoccupied with something that has either already happened or something which may never happen? Are we effective with our current, “now” tasks under those circumstances?
The past is gone; You can not change it. The future isn’t here yet; how much can you control something that doesn’t exist?
Should you ignore your past? No. It is important to learn from your past, but it’s also important for you to choose the timing to do so. When your preoccupation with the past determines the timing for you is when the above situations tend to happen (*crash!*). Consciously set aside some time to revisit and evaluate past events. Take the lessons from it but leave behind the emotional turmoil – all it is likely to do is cause you further turmoil!
Should you ignore your future? No. You need to plan ahead, to put some thought into your goals and what you need to do in order to get there. The mundane things also need to be taken care of, and they often need a bit of forethought: bills should be paid on time, appointments should be met on time, trips planned appropriately, etc. But do you stare into space endlessly, ignoring the present? No. Your dreams will not likely be realized if all you do is dream of them, and you once again are not effective in the present if you are preoccupied with the future. Again, you may find that consciously setting aside some time to plan your future – whether it’s next year, the next day, or even twenty minutes from now – may help manifest those dreams without sacrificing the present.
So we are left with the present. The present is all that exists, and it exists for only a moment. By the time I finish this sentence -this word- it’s already a past event! Moment by moment by moment, we live… how many of your moments really count?
Namaste.
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