A lot of things happen in our lives and only a few of them start to shape our opinions and the story we tell about ourselves. We have been late for a meeting or for work, and we try to identify ourselves as people who are always late. We have been finishing our projects and our homework only a few hours before the deadline and as a consequence of that, we identify ourselves as procrastinators. Additionally, we tend to start to get stressed out because of a difficult project that is in the future and because one of your colleagues will take a week off of work. These type of events are probably going to steal you the chance of enjoying the present.
It is important to accept and be aware of the fact that you cannot change your past, no matter how much thought you put towards it, or how much guilt you put over your shoulders. Only because you were late for a meeting a few times in the past, it does not have be like that for the rest of your life. I am not saying, however that you should not try to learn from your past mistakes, but rather, I am suggesting to not waste too much time on it and forget about your future.
Though you might want to have a better future and are afraid that you might not have it, remind yourself that you cannot predict the future. You have the power of decision to choose your path ahead, but still, you might not end up where you want to be, as it may have occurred to you until now. However, there is still something that might help you have higher chances of achieving your destination and that has to do with your focus.
Focusing solely on your past events or your future plans might deteriorate and prevent you from tasting the present. It is really important to learn from your past and to plan for your future, but maybe the same importance belongs to the ability of focusing on the present time and making the most out of it. As the chess-prodigy Josh Waitzkin mentions in his book “The art of learning”, “Presence must be like breathing.”
Every moment that you are alive is a new opportunity for you and me to get better than we were just a minute ago. We can let past explanations as identities about ourselves, but we also have the opportunity of changing ourselves now. These lines might be the last ones that you are reading, or maybe a long life ahead is waiting for you to enjoy it. Before you close your browser tab, remember that you will not be able to have a good life if you do not try to use the opportunities that you are constantly blessed with.
