A quote that I saw recently seemed to resonate today – “There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.” Dalai Lama
It is unfortunate and an unhealthy waste of your time to spend your day lamenting things in your past or worrying about things that are yet to come.
Perhaps if you start each day by focusing upon what you can do today and not on what happened yesterday or what may happen tomorrow, you can actually get something done.
My wife almost every day asks me “What have you got for today?” It’s a way of syncing our calendars, so that she can plan for the things that she does for me each day and so that we can see if there is time for us to do something together. We almost always find that time.
Some days there may be 2-3 entries already in my phone calendar, but some days start out with a blank calendar. I view those as opportunity days – time to get around to things that have been on my to-do list for some time or which fall into that class, “I’ve been meaning to…”
If you must spend any time reflecting upon the past, at least use it as a learning experience and not as a time to beat yourself up about a bad decision or an unfortunate outcome. Ask yourself, “What can I learn from that?”, instead of wallowing in self-pity or remorse. If you find yourself thinking about the future, make that time a planning session and not an anxiety-filled time of fear of imagined problems. In either case, try to make that time spent as short as possible and get back to the day at hand – lived in the present.
“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” Buddha.
A key word in that little quote is the last word – earnestly. One cannot live in the moment earnestly if on is focused on the past or the future. If you do not earnestly experience the things that are happening today, you will miss all of the nuances that are there for you to enjoy and from which to learn.
Allowing yourself to be consumed by worry about the past or the future turns you into a zombie for today. Live in the moment. The past is over and dome and the future will take care of itself.
Don’t become a zombie.
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