Are You Past, Present or Future Oriented?

I've been thinking a lot about time and how we perceive it. And I think that people break down into three groups–the past, present and future-oriented.

Some of us are stuck in the past. We rehash old conflicts, relive past traumas or try to regain past glory. It's like living with what Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan call the self imposed life sentence. The past, whether it was good or bad dictates the present and blinds us to the possibilities in the future.

Other people, though, are extremely future-oriented. 

They're driven and always chasing a bright tomorrow. Today might be okay, but the future holds the real value. They can't stop to smell the flowers because they're too busy chasing the mythical pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They don't question their momentum and time is a blur to them. Looking back, they wonder: "Where did it all go?"

So the past is done and the future is important, but all we REALLY have is the present. This moment, right now...that's all we really have. And we have a choice in what to make of it and how we invest it. 

That's what Victor Frankl teaches us in his book, Man's Search for Meaning. He learned that even in a Nazi concentration camp he retained his ability to choose. He learned that the future was uncertain and all that mattered was in choosing wisely in the present.

It's good to have plans for the future but making good choices in the present and NOT losing sight of what matters most is what counts. The future will take care of itself. 

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