The unbelievably beautiful future or perhaps the catastrophe coming, the regret and pain of the past. How often do we spend wishing we would have acted differently? A mistake made, a witty counter to an argument we wish we would have said in the moment, wishing we would have. We could have, we would have, we should have.
How often do we spend in agony thinking of the pain yet to come? The school speech, the work presentation, trial, Monday morning on a Sunday night. In a declassified interrogation manual, the CIA found that a person is more likely to talk with the fear of pain, rather than the inflecting of pain. Know why? Imagination.
We are extremely creative, us humans, often to our own detriment. In our minds we can imagine the worst of torture chambers, true catastrophic demise that neither happened in the past or will happen in the future. How often do we do the thing we are afraid of and say “that wasn’t so bad!” How often do we think we want a cheeseburger, nicotine, more money, and the reality wasn’t as good/bad as we imagined?
Stay in the now, the past wasn’t as good/bad as we think it was, the future won’t be as great/awful as we think it will be. Nothing is forever, you will be ok. Until tomorrow, smile in the arena of life today.