Past. Present. Future.

I know people who spend a lot of their time and effort rehashing events from long ago, both good and bad.

Some dream constantly about the good old days when they were young or thin or popular or athletic. It’s easy to slip into that mode and remember things as being easier, better, more fun.

Others dwell on past hurts or hard times. They build lives around getting even with childhood bullies or become bitter over things said twenty years ago by people who don’t even remember saying them.

Do you live in the past?

Some spend all of their time dreaming of Someday. The perfect partner they haven’t met yet. Children or grandchildren in the distant future. A dream house on the Mediterranean/in the woods/in gated suburbia/on a private island.

On the flip side, there are those who live in fear of what tomorrow might bring. Their brains are filled with tragic possibilities—illness, heartbreak, financial ruin, accidents, death.

Do you live in the future?

We all do both those things sometimes, the positive versions and the negative. There’s nothing wrong with rehashing good times that make us smile. And the bad things that happen shape the people we are today. I don’t think we should forget.

Dreams are important. I’m a writer. Dreaming of the future and making things up is part of my job. And if we don’t think ahead to some of the things that can go wrong, we can’t take steps to avoid them.

But.

Today is when we are. Always. When was the last time you really stopped what you were doing and lived in Right Now?

I think it’s impossible to live in the moment every second of the day, but it’s far too easy to miss a great many moments because our minds have wandered backward or forward in time.

Myself, I tend to be a future dweller. I plan. I fantasize. I create elaborate visions of how my life will be. But you know what? My present is pretty damn fabulous. Sometimes, in my dreaming, I forget that part.

Take a moment to look around from time to time. Find the magic of Right Now. In this one moment, so much is waiting to be seen and enjoyed. So much is around you, waiting to slip into obscurity if you don’t pay attention and notice it.

Right Now is fuel for tomorrow’s memories. Make them good ones.