A THOUGHT FOR NOW - ENDEAVOUR TO AVOID SUBMITTING YOURSELF AS A PRISONER TO THE PAST.

Visiting the past can be exciting and fascinating, but it is still the domain of the dead. Better to spend our time and space creating our own future, which is the preserve of the living.

It seems to me that a person can 'choose' to live their lives in one of 4 ways. Namely, we can choose to live in the past, or the present, or the future, or a combination of all 3. 

Those of us who opt to live in the past, in the sense that we idealises it and/or uses it as our primary prism and compass to make sense of and to navigate the present and the future, are likely to have a certain disregard, disrespect and mistrust of the present and the future. Arguably, you could count amongst these people, the devotees all or most of the major religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Islam, Shintoism, et al.

Conversely, those humans who have a preference for living in the present, or, as some people might refer to it, the now, are those who use the present as their primary reference point for making the link between the present and the future. For them, the most important things in life pertains to what is happening now; if you will, how well they are able to live their lives in the present and the very near future.  

They are not significantly concerned about what happened in the past, especially the distant past, because they see it as being of little relevance, now that it has passed and is dead, except for the living who clings onto it. Similarly, they are not overly concerned about what is or is not likely to happen in 5 or 10 years times, because it, like the past, it does not have any significant impact on what they are doing and want to do, now, in the present. Economists would call them consumers with a preference for 'immediate gratification.'

In the case of the people who have a preference for using the future as their primary prism and navigational aid to live their lives, they have a greater resistance to indulging in immediate consumption, and are more motivated by the premis that, by forgoing the opportunity to indulge in immediate gratification and the pleasures of life, and invest their resources and hopes in the projects for future realisation, they will have more rewards/pleasures, in the future.
Yes, these 'futurists', as you might have already concluded, can comprise both the religious adherents who imagine they will have rewards in a 'life after death', and those ordinary humans whose sole motive in postponing their option for immediate gratification, is to realise a better lifestyle in the future, in this life.


The fourth and final living mode is that of the people, probably the majority, who endeavour to combine, 'past, present and future' modes of life into  one which works best for them.

Inasmuch as we are able to influence the kind of living we pursue, we should endeavour to avoid using the past as our prism and navigational guide or compass, less we submit ourselves as prisoners to the past, thereby enabling the concept of it dominate or seriously circumscribe our lives and, ipso facto, our present and our future.  The future belongs to those who are committing themselves to building it in a way which befits the aspirations of humans, and not the gods, or their purported doctrines.

Strive to live your life well and enjoyably,  and, as much as you are able to, in the present, the now, which is the time and space over which you have most control. At the same time, avoid being oblivious to the future, as it is only the concealed present.

As much as it is wise to do so, become a 'nowist' and live and enjoy your life in the present.