Do your thoughts go to the past, the now or the future?

[Gaer]

When your thoughts are rambling, do you spend your time recalling past events or are you in the present?
I find my thinking always goes to the future. I think I've always been this way. I'm always expecting something wonderful to happen.
It hasn't but I always seem to be preparing for the future.
How about YOU?

 

[oldaunt]

I try to live in the 'now' as much as possible. Nothing I can change about the past, and the future has no guarantee.

 

[Becky1951]

All 3. I enjoy remembering happy or funny events/situations of my past, I am living in the now and react accordingly regarding daily living, I think of my future as an adventure waiting to happen.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I tend to worry about the future and find comfort in the past. The present is mainly for thinking about solutions to the little problems of daily life and relationships.

 

[Becky1951]

When your thoughts are rambling, do you spend your time recalling past events or are you in the present?
I find my thinking always goes to the future. I think I've always been this way. I'm always expecting something wonderful to happen.
It hasn't but I always seem to be preparing for the future.
How about YOU?

"I'm always expecting something wonderful to happen.
It hasn't"

I suspect it has on many occasions. On your travels haven't you discovered many beautiful places?

Beautiful feelings of inspirations? Started off to visit one place and wondered off into an entirely different place only to find it far more enjoyable? That's all wonderful.

 

[Gaer]

"I'm always expecting something wonderful to happen.
It hasn't"

I suspect it has on many occasions. On your travels haven't you discovered many beautiful places?

Beautiful feelings of inspirations? Started off to visit one place and wondered off into an entirely different place only to find it far more enjoyable? That's all wonderful.

Yes! You are completely correct!!!!

 

[Lewkat]

I often think of past events. Especially if they were amusing and funny.

 

[Tish]

Somewhat, but I usually chase them away if they are useless.
I like to take things daily, as for the future, it is what it will be.

 

[squatting dog]

Depends on the time of day. Mostly I try to avoid remembering or dwelling on the past. (too many demons).
We try to look to the future. Now, 2-3 am is a tough time for me. Nothing good ever runs through my head t those times.

 

[Murrmurr]

I think about both the past and future more than I ever have before. In fact I only realized recently that, for about the first 60 years of my life, I lived very much in the moment.

 

[Raddragn]

50% now; roughly 25% each for past and future. The last two mostly at night before dropping off to sleep.

 

[Alligatorob]

All 3. I enjoy remembering happy or funny events/situations of my past, I am living in the now and react accordingly regarding daily living, I think of my future as an adventure waiting to happen.

Well put! I'm pretty much the same, but probably could not have said it so well.

 

[SeniorBen]

I have a bad habit of ruminating about the past. It does me absolutely no good, whatsoever, yet I do it every day. I wish there was a way to remove bad memories.

 

[Jack Frost]

I like the way you think. The past, present and future all have a place in our life. I enjoy remembering happy or funny events/situations of my past, I am living in the now and react accordingly regarding daily living, I think of my future as an adventure waiting to happen. We should always remember the past so we hopefully don't repeat our mistakes and we can relieve and enjoy the really good times we had (and there were many). Also, now is important to deal with the issues and hand, being aware of how to deal with reality using the experiences and skills we brought from the past. The future is out there for whomever wants to grab it and go. Opportunities abound whether it be romance, yes at my age I still stir, educational opportunities or ways to improve. The future is bright and we have that destiny in our grasp. Just reach out pull it in. Thanks for reading and never change unless its for your better. Smile, make someone feel good about themself.

 

[Been There]

Right now, as we get closer to August 6, I think about the dropping of the first A-bomb over Hiroshima.

I do look ahead each time I get a call from my realtor. It looks more and more like I may end up in Pensacola.

 

[MarkinPhx]

I try to live in the moment. I do recall things form my past and think of the future but dwelling on those two things for too long isn't good for me.

 

[palides2021]

I'm a future person. I'm always planning ahead. I rarely dwell on the past except when I need to recall something. I am always in the present, so its difficult not to be thinking about it. Does that make sense?

 

[Leann]

All 3. I enjoy remembering happy or funny events/situations of my past, I am living in the now and react accordingly regarding daily living, I think of my future as an adventure waiting to happen.

Love this, @Becky1951. I feel much the same way.

 

[feywon]

This morning a reaction to 2 old posts of mine led me to syncronistic 'rabbit hole'.
Two poems relevant to recent threads on SF.
RELENTLESS
When we are young time moves
too slow when joy is approaching
too fast when the day or hour desired arrives
and too soon it's past
and a new countdown begins
so many days til the next weekend,
weeks or months to the next holiday
years to the next milestone.
As we age it all seems to go by fast,
and faster all the time
we want to live in the now
savor each moment...
but they are sliding down our throats
before we remember we meant to chew slowly
to roll the broken open moment around on our tongues
and relish it's flavor and texture...
© efbarmore 7/3/11

 

[Pinky]

I have a bad habit of ruminating about the past. It does me absolutely no good, whatsoever, yet I do it every day. I wish there was a way to remove bad memories.

@SeniorBen

Bedtime is when negative past-memories try to crawl in. I find that immediately saying to myself "think of something happy", helps. Sometimes, it takes a couple of tries.

 

[Nathan]

Do your thoughts go to the past, the now or the future?

I spent a lot of years ruminating all the woulda-coulda-shouldas, sometimes it felt like my brain was on fire. I'm pretty much past that, but now it's a challenge to keep from obsessing about the future. A large part in practicing yoga and Taichi is focusing on the present, that takes a lot of practice....regular practice as that is a skill set that will fade if not regularly renewed.

 

[Geezer Garage]

I try to "be here now", but the now is so fleeting. It was just now, now it's then, and soon it will be now again. It's all very confusing, think I'll have a beer.

 

[chic]

I tend to worry about the future and find comfort in the past. The present is mainly for thinking about solutions to the little problems of daily life and relationships.

Ditto. I love remembering the past, how free and easy life was and all the fun I had. The future terrifies me. People are becoming unpredictable and dangerous and all forms of equality are dying rapidly right before everyone's eyes and no one seems to care. The present is for doing what I have to and what I can do to make "right now" better for myself and others.

 

[David777]

Without modern technical processes and physical substrates to save the past, humans given language were first limited to oral histories passed down generation to generation. Such oral processes were much more reliable than modern humans tend to understand. Otherwise our usable memories fade over time and without such we are no better off than lower creatures. At some point in recent millennium, humans developed written language that greatly increased for limited elites an ability to accurately recall the past. When printable books appeared during the Renaisance, that knowledge exploded to the level of all levels of societies. And in this modern technical era, we have the ability to record our past in a long list of ways.

Personally, I enhance my own ability to revisit my past with photography and videos both of which have adequate permanence to last through my own waning lifetime. Not only do I have such media that many others do, but with the rise of the Internet, I can now globally share such and do with unlimited numbers of others. With the rise of available knowledge and technology, I now have the option to vastly expand and understand what may be in my future. That is a key reason I am a science and technology enthusiast. That noted as someone living during this technological knee, there is much unrecorded in my early life and adult years that is forever fading.

So do I live in the moment, future, or past? I personally have an exceptional option for all three though day to day, the current moment dominates because it inherently is what the past becomes, while paving future paths.

 

[feywon]

@SeniorBen

Bedtime is when negative past-memories try to crawl in. I find that immediately saying to myself "think of something happy", helps. Sometimes, it takes a couple of tries.

i meditate before bedtime. Soothing thoughts, positive affirmations. i can count one hand the number of times it has failed me in over 4 decades.

i am more often ambushed grief, sadness or a sudden insight into the effects of some past trauma when listening to music, watching a movie, or documentaries that some how trigger me.

Additional note: The ambushes that result in insights are welcome--they usually result in new perspective that helps me reframe the memory nd let go any pain or anger associated with it.