The concept of time is an amazing one. Yet still just a concept. Is it a physical identity, or rather a creation from the mind of man? In any case, we believe and adhere to it. It is an instrument used to measure the changes. Are we to live in the present or future? This ties in with what I said before.
For as long as I remember, I've lived in the future, so to say. My mind has always been thinking about what was going to occur in the future. Perhaps because of my fear of failure, or perhaps because of its uncertainty. Never have I believed in fate. You create your own fate. You create your own future. Every decision you make, from a yell at a friend, to a speech in front of the country, you're constantly creating your own future. The smallest thing can make the biggest impact in your life, if not, some impact. As of now, no one can say for certain what would have happened if that fly hadn't landed on your foot ten years back, or what would have happened if you hadn't gone to that school three years ago. But one thing is for sure, every single decision you make, creates the future you.
After a couple of years of adhering to the above, I realized something. I saw that because I was thinking of the future so much, I didn't really notice time passing by like it did when I was three (yeah, I remember all the way back to when I was one, even. Faint memories, but still). So, I decided to live in the present for a while. Time really has an impact, then. I really noticed things. But that effect is even more magnified when someone lives in the past, constantly reminiscing of what has already occurred. I simply can't stand living in the past. Partly because I feel that you should have absolutely no regrets. Yeah, I've made mistakes, make no doubt about that, but in that instance, I enjoyed what I was doing, and that has had an impact on who I am today. I have learned from that mistake, so that I won't repeat it in the future. For this reason (and others), I regret nothing. But living in the present is different.
The predominant reason why living in the present is a good choice is because it makes you enjoy aspects of daily life so much. It simply adds to how much you appreciate life, and how much you enjoy life as a whole. Every laugh, every tear, every conversation, every walk simply seems to be so much more. Appreciating cannot be over-emphasized. Unfortunately, humans have a tendency to take things for granted, and even when we get something that we want, we still want more. Sometimes, we want the opposite of what we have. Classic example: Phil is friends with Tim. Phil has two sisters, while Tim is an only child. Phil admires Tim and wants to be an only child like Time, whilst Tim wants to have siblings like Phil. Phil doesn't appreciate how his sisters keep him from getting bored, are companions for a huge chunk of his life, and can give him advice because they're slightly older and can tell him what's in store for him in the near future. On the other hand, Tim doesn't appreciate how being an only child means that he doesn't have to share his toys with anyone, how he gets a lot more attention (side note, parents of any amount of children should be extremely careful to not give too much or too little attention to any of their kids. Balance is key), how he doesn't have to deal with arguments, and how he can get the Fruity Loop flavour he wants without settling for Cereal because his parents can't buy different snack for different kids. Appreciation is under appreciated.
But, in all honesty, this is all simply a categorization. No one can really say that they live in the past, present, or future. That would have no meaning. We all think about the past or the future sometimes, and of course, the present. The ideal thing would be to live predominantly in the present, enjoying things for what they are, whilst spending at least an hour in a day on what they need to get done and accomplish in the future. At the same time, we need to spend at the very least half an hour per day on what we could have done better.
All so that we can learn lessons from the past, incorporate them into the present, and strive for the best future.
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Of course, sometimes I ask myself if I actually believe that this is worth doing. The whole blog thing. Of course, I want to change things. For the better. How much is getting done? Obviously, not world-wide. But, you need to start somewhere. Even if one thing that I've typed has had even the slightest impact on somebody that I perhaps don't even know, this blog is worth keeping up. This is why we all need to try. Try and try. And when you've failed, try some more. Why? Maybe it's a losing battle, maybe you think you're not doing much, but you need to try. That's how you move forward, by trying. If Usain Bolt had never attempted to crawl, because he never thought he could sprint, he'd never have become the fastest runner in the world.
Try.
Impacted :)
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