Present, Past, Present, Future, Present

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” 
― Mother Teresa

“The future depends on what you do today.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.” 
― Franklin D. Roosevelt

This post is not to say that the past nor the future are obsolete. I am not implying we should forget about everything and merely live for the moment, resulting in fatalistic movements and choices. This is more of a post about a realization of our memories, thoughts, and experiences.

When I reminisce about my past it normally has a footing in the here and now. An object whirls me back to a different time and i relive that moment in my mind. I hear a song and I am reminded of a darker time. I see a house, a robust smell, a vivid jolt of deja vu. These things all have a foundation, a stem, in the present.

When you think of a loved one that is gone are you living in the past or are you rather surviving the here and now? Aren't you lonely now which causes you to think of a different time, meaning your past thought stems from the present. 

What of the future? Ah yes, it too has it's root in the present. When we contemplate the future we normally have a pressing issue in the present that forces us to attempt to transcend time and interpret the future. We decide to go to college in order to have a more lucrative employment later in life. The reason we thought about the more lucrative employment is because the choice was at hand in the present. This does not take away from the importance of that future or the importance of the college choice.