How much time do you spend learning from the past? Preparing for the future? Living in the present? I don’t spend much time thinking about the past, but I do like making plans, so there is an element of the future in that. But even there I tend/try to enjoy the process right now. What about you?
Also, do you have any favorite words of wisdom?
You’ve hit the nail on the head. Live in the present. The past does help you with mistakes you won’t do in the future–if you remember them.
I realized I was getting old when I saw questions like, “Where do you want to be in 10 years? In 20?” It was a wake-up call when my answer was, “Well, to be still alive and relatively healthy would be nice.” Ah, yes, time to focus on the present and enjoy it while we can. 🙂
I think when I’m stuck I look around for ideas from others (the past). I tend to organise my life from the future backwards – I want a healthy old age so I’m taking up a qi gong routine (Bruce Frantzis Dragon and Tiger set). Most of the time I’m engaged with what I’m doing in the present – when this is something that really matters to me then I feel better for having done it.
Evan,
I agree with you about treating our bodies with respect. Hopefully we’ll have them for a good long time! And I also agree that I’m happiest when I eat well, get enough exercise and have projects I can get immersed in. If that isn’t heaven I don’t know what is.
Yes indeed. Nothing like living in the present. Favourite words of wisdom? All wisdom is by hindsight.
Rummuser,
I agree, as long as we take Evan’s approach and learn from the experience of others too. Life is too short to make all the mistakes ourselves. 🙂
I love the past. It’s my life. This minute’s present will be past in a second. And the future is anyone’s guess.
U
“Stay where my hands are” is one of my favourites. My day’s are pretty darn perfect when I practise it.
XO
WWW
Wisewebwoman, thanks for rating the books you’ve listed (read). I’d rather read the good ones.
I see you at Grannymar’s. Saw the Irish in you but never guessed the Newfoundlander.
Ursula,
Do you think your past was more pleasant/meaningful than the present?
wisewebwoman,
I like that one, except my mind wanders far afield. I love reading history, and my hands never go there.
sorry, I’m behind with various forums/blogs…had to have something accomplished that was a tad complicated for me in quickly (uni assignment)…
I do look at the past, to see what I did at some point and whether it suitable to repeat it now or to revamp it…
When I look to the future, I spend a lot of time collecting data so I can make a good decision. OK sometimes I make a decision that appears good and later it’s not 🙂
Sometimes that data collecting sends me off onto another pathway, or it stalls somewhere when things don’t go according to plan…
and finally my usual decision “it depends” 🙂
Cathy,
I agree. Gathering data before making a decision doesn’t guarantee the results, but it sure increases our odds. And we learn a lot in the process. I like your “it depends.” They sound like words of wisdom to me. 🙂
Jean, in answer to your comment and question:
I look at life as continuous. Fact is that every moment, even as I write, is the past. So when I say that “I love the past; it’s my life” I mean it literal. I have never understood why people say “live in the present”. To me it seems so obvious: When else would we live than this minute? And, with a bit of luck, the next. I cannot follow that line of thought. We are the sum of our experiences (and they are, with every minute ticking away, by necessity in the past).
U
U,
I wouldn’t necessarily see what I just ate for dinner as a ‘history’ as it’s still lolling around in my body…
I would more likely talk about something as history that I had done it, achieved it and the produce/t had been created…and “I did that way because ***” or “when I did *** a few weeks, months, years ago it worked well but it isn’t going to be terribly useful now”
Just these last few days a ‘new relative of mine’ suggested that I didn’t know how to bake, make things froms scratch and that she was now the ‘baker’ of the family…but I had to reply that I might not be baking much now but in fact I was a very good baker/cook. It’s history as such. Even though sometime in the future I might pick up my cake tins and oven temps…
Ursula,
Mostly what people mean by “live in the present” is don’t spend so much time dwelling on the past or anticipating/worrying about the future that you don’t enjoy the process of life.
ok…now that falls into place…
“live in the present” – brain got Friday night, I’m dead a bit fever 🙂
To make a difficult decision I usually learn from the past to avoid the same mistake happen again. But I prefer to look ahead, what path should I choose, and recorded the wrong paths which I went through, to be shared as the story to my kids.
Since money has played a major role in modern life, I see a lot of stress because of money problems. That’s why the Chinese proverb about money is one of my favorite words of wisdom as well as be my first post: http://love-ely.blogspot.com/2008/07/chinese-proverb-abot-money.html
tikno,
I couldn’t agree more!
love the Chinese proverb, tikno
Thanks Cathy
Greeting from Indonesia.