Here and Now

Daily writing prompt

Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?

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I don’t know maybe it’s the 50 plus vibe – I find myself more focused on the here and now. I’ve lived long enough to recognize that my days are numbered. Somewhere along the way I found out that I can do nothing about the past. I can embrace the lessons learned especially from those less than perfect moments. I’ve gotten to the place where I can laugh at my past missteps. I treasure the beautiful moments of yesteryears – I need them when life leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. With all its wealth, I find it counterproductive to dwell too much in the past, however.

Though I am a believer in planning for the future, tomorrow is not promised to me. These last few years have taught me to ‘eat the cookies and buy the shoes’. The reality is someone may end up wearing those shoes and eating those cookies. The same ones I worked so hard to be able to afford. What do I know about tomorrow? Nothing! I hope and pray that I’d be granted length of days, but I don’t have insider information on that. So, I’ve learned to strike a good balance with where I invest my mental and emotional energy. I don’t spend too much time concerned about tomorrow, lest I lose sight of all I’ve been given in the here and now.

So, what’s the answer? Neither. I visit the past and the future occasionally but give me today. Give me this moment in time. I’m learning to be present, to listen, to look into the eyes around me. To laugh out loud or cry if I must. To feel, to silence the noise that distracts and to savor this slice of time that I’ve been given. Give me the now – I prefer to live there.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. [Prov 27:1]

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. [Isaiah 43: 18-19]