The present is
now. What we feel. The unfolding new idea of what is happening. Breathing.
Hearing. Tasting. Smelling. New sensations which add to the ones stored from
our past. The instant of this very moment.
The future; what
is unfolding, becoming. What will be. The press from now into the unknown.
The past prepares us for now. The now prepares us for the
future. And the future? Prepares us for what?
When I was young, the past was often a burden. It reminded
me of what had happened, and probably why. Lessons learned so pain could be
avoided. Embarrassment skirted. Weakness shunned. Experience acquired, built up. The past was a
memory bank of lessons, of teachings.
The now we are
aware of but briefly. It slips past us; in a blink. Often unremarked or unfelt.
Mostly a tiny threshold between past and present. In that very sense, now is a time of preparation for the
future. Or is it?
And the future.
So much of it unrealizable. Not just because death denies us the future, but so
much of possibility is not touched upon because we only focus on a tiny slice
of the future. And that is not always realized in the end anyway. So what is
this future we seek? And why?
This discussion so far has uncovered the following truth:
the past is maybe 90% of our life; the now is perhaps 8%; and only 2% is
future. Those numbers can only be arbitrary. It can be argued that future is 0%
because we are not there yet. Likewise, the present is actually only the
tiniest bit of time, seconds perhaps; thus 99% or more is past.
Well so much for ‘truth.’ It seems in this case it is all
estimate and relative.
The past surely gives us the most to think about and
remember and make sense of. It is the past which provides learning and
understanding. But only because we are using our capabilities in the now to
understand the past. Perhaps if we let it, the past will enrich our present.
Maybe it will teach us how to live in the present tense and embrace it fully,
enjoy it fully, breathe in the richness of it! But only if we want that, right?
What if we have fear? What if we dread what is to happen and so do not
appreciate the past and are consequently frozen out of the present? Is this present as prologue to doom?
Or do we treat the past as the storehouse of information and
intelligence gathering, the knowledge to live life fully in the present?
It seems a noble thing to appreciate the present. It seems
even nobler to use the present to prepare for the future so the most can be
gained from the possibilities to be had there.
Possibilities. What can be. If we try for it. If we prepare
for it. If we can think of them and help make them happen. The good ones. The
bad ones defended against. Only the good nurtured.
Possibilities require what to come into being? To unfold and
be of use to us?
I have spent much of my life helping people prepare for the
future. What do you want to experience in the future? What needs to be
happening in the future? How do we prepare for that, indeed, make it happen the
way we dream it?
Dreams. Hopes. Aspirations. Maybe for self. Maybe for
family. Maybe for organization or employer. But certainly for our sense of
success and happiness. Dreams of a better time when strife will be at bay. When
people will work toward common good, not selfish ends. When people will realize
that their greatest joy is living in the present, not the past or the future.
Working for the future is different than living there. We
can’t live in the future. We live in the present. There is a line not to be
crossed. We invest in today so there is a good tomorrow. But the line is still
there. We must live now, in the present if there is any reward at all. And it
is in the now.
Contemplating past –
present – future provides context and perspective. Both rich resources to
live life fully. Not one in place of the other. But each in its place. Each
providing the rhythm, the strum or vibration of life.
Are we living it fully? Intelligently? Sensuously?
Tantalizingly?
Are we enjoying the ride and building possibilities?
January 24, 2012
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