Past, Present, Future - Where are your thoughts?
/
We all go through cycles where we become skewed temporarily; overwhelmed by something in our past or worrying about something in the future. If we are at a high school reunion or looking through a book of old family photographs our thoughts are probably dominated by the past. If we are checking on our retirement savings or planning a wedding anniversary party for our parents we are thinking of the future.
Normally the present dominates.
Is that true through all of life? That may be counter to the traditional ideas
- Of the young being more focused on the future - growing up fast and making a place for themselves in the world.
- Of the old thinking more about the past because they have more life that is past than ahead.
Having past the mid-point in my life (assuming I might be lucky enough be healthy at 100) - I have been thinking about how my thoughts have shifted over the years. I enjoy history in the broad sense but tend to enjoy only brief sojourns into my own. It is true that now there are more pictures of my past and more opportunities for reconnecting with people from years past. But I remember enjoying looking at the baby book my mother had created of my early years even before I was 20 years old. Seeking to savor our personal past is not just for people past mid-life.
I’ve always enjoyed planning which is clearly a future oriented activity. Thinking of things that might happen and developing contingency plans…playing with ‘what if’ scenarios…has always been part of the way I set out to accomplish the goals I set for myself. Earlier in my life my planning was oriented to career and young family goals; now my planning is focused on goals for an older family and the next generation (i.e. grandchildren) when and if they arrive. While all along the way I’ve had an overarching desire to leave the world a better place; now I am thinking more about that more frequently as well.
So - what about today? Between the foundation of the past and the potential of the future - the present is always where the action is.
