Tense About Tense

The Past – Grrrr!! The Future – Eeeek!!

The Present – Ahhhhh! Ooooooh!

Where we place our focus has a profound effect on how we feel.

When we focus on the past we are often criticizing ourselves or others for something we or they did or didn’t do. This focus leads to contracted feelings like anger, frustration, or disappointment.

When we focus on the future it is often about what bad things might happen to us or someone we care about which results in fearful feelings.

However, when we focus on the present moment, these contracted feelings are usually absent. Focusing on the present moment means paying exclusive attention to where you are and what is happening right now.

We may delude ourselves by saying that we are in the present moment because we are aware that at this moment we are worried about what might happen tomorrow. But that is not being in the present moment. That is using your present moment to worry about and fear the future.

Being in the Present

Being in the present moment means being fully aware of where you are, your immediate surroundings, and what is going on around and within you. It means noticing details of where you have chosen to spend this moment, becoming fully aware of it with all your senses. It means being aware of how you feel about where you are and what you are doing. It is a multi-sensory experience that cannot be fully appreciated while you are engaged with something else that is not in the reality of this present moment.

At this moment, you are reading this. Can you stay with this activity consciously and not let yourself be drawn away? Can you be aware of just these words on the paper or digital device? What is the feeling of the book/paper/device in your hands? How do you feel about the ideas you are reading about?

Can you take a full breath and be aware of your body for a moment and then come back to this reading all in the Present Moment?

Can you glance up at your surroundings and then come right back to this reading? That is being in the Present Moment.

Being in the Past

We can’t be in the Present Moment and, at the same time, be in the past. To go to the past, we have to leave the Present Moment until we decide to come back. Why would I leave the Present Moment? I have some of the strangest reasons. Honestly, they don’t make any sense. I usually leave the Present Moment and journey to the past to:

• criticize myself for poor behavior back then
• judge or criticize someone else for what they said or did back then
• remember some bad experience that might be about to happen again (a double-whammy of mixing up the past and the future while avoiding the present moment.)
• remember the things I haven’t been able to do and beat myself up
• remember the problems/challenges in my life

Doesn’t all that sound like lots of fun?

Rarely I will go to the past to remember something I did well or a circumstance that turned out positively. Rarely, I will travel back with a non-judgmental eye to see what I can learn from past experience and bring that into the Present Moment. Both of those journeys are worthwhile.

How about you? What do you do when you go to your past? Do you have more fun than me?

The reality is that there is nothing positive that can be realized from those adventures. There is nothing we can do now to change what happened back then. That time is gone except that it lives in our memories. There is clearly nothing we can do now, in the Present Moment, to change what happened back then. We can, however, change our interpretation of that experience, the lesson that we choose to learn from it. But that work can only be done in the Present Moment.

The interesting thing is that none of those experiences exist in the present moment unless, and until, we bring them there. So, why would we choose to do that? Oh, yes, it is a choice.

Being in the Future

Then there are times when I leave the present moment to visit the future. Once again, it is impossible to be in the present moment and in the future at the same time. I can’t experience both in the same moment. Why do I go to the future? What do I do when I get there? Oh, things like:

• worry about some upcoming event that might turn out badly if it happens at all
• rehearse an argument or serious debate with someone important to me
• fear the ridicule and criticism I might experience for something I did or didn’t do

Does that sound like fun? Well, it’s not!

These time travels to the future are just as futile as the trips to the past. There is nothing I can do now in the Present Moment to modify the outcome of that future experience that may not even happen.

I can of course make plans for how I would like to respond to a possible future experience but that planning occurs in the Present Moment. I am here now, and aware that I am in the Present Moment, thinking about what I want to do at some future time. That is different from imagining myself in some future time experiencing something that hasn’t occurred and may actually never occur.

The futility of wrestling with future possible events in the Present Moment is that I do not, and cannot, have all the information and insight that will be available to me if and when this event actually unfolds in my Present Moment. I don’t know exactly what will be said, or how it will be said. I don’t know how I will feel or what new understandings and insights might infludence me between now and then. My whole life and world could be totally different due to some unforseen experiences.

So, what is the point of going to the future now to fear or worry about something that might never happen? I honestly can’t think of even one good reason.

What I’m Missing

Here I am, quite blessed in the present moment, sitting at my desk typing on my 7 year-old laptop. I live in a comfortable, but not elegant, home. I don’t have to worry about paying for food, shelter, or other basic needs. I have good friends and my family is all well, thank goodness. I do have some health challenges, but not uncommon for my age and they are being handled to the best of my ability.

I could spend almost all of my time in the present moment, enjoying my blessings, and using them to write articles that may be of value to others. I might parlay those articles into one or more spiritual, transformational books. But for sure, I would learn more about what I am passionate about. By spending more of my time in the Present Moment, I know I will bring more joy, peace, fulfillment, and contribution into my life.

Instead, I spend way too much time in the past angry about the way some people have treated me or in the future fearing what *might* happen. Crazy, no?

How about you? Am I unusual in this regard? Do you also spend more time fighting with the past or fearing the future when you could be enjoying the Present Moment? If you have different things you do in the past or the future, let me know in a comment below.

Are You Convinced?

Is it clear to you know that time traveling is fraught with unpleasant consequences? Would you like to learn how to train your mind to spend more time, productively and pleasantly in the Present Moment?

Check out the following post HERE,