Present

It can be difficult to remain in the present when the past keeps trying to swallow me. But I'm working on it.

The most important time in anyone's life is now -- the present. 

The past impacts, informs, and teaches us. 

The future motivates, inspires, and pulls us.

But the present is here . . . this moment . . . all we really have.

So I'm working on living in the present moment. That doesn't mean ignoring the past or not hoping for the future. What it does mean is fully embracing the present by recognizing it, being in it, staying focused on the now.

I don't think about the future that much. I'm more capable of seeing it without running toward it. But the past. The past is a different issue all together. I don't choose to dwell on it or in it, but it rears it's ugly head most days in one form or another.  What I've found is it's best to acknowledge it for what it was -- a very difficult time in my life that has left me with a boat load of bad habits and unhealthy coping mechanisms. However, the harder I try to escape the past, the more intrusive it becomes. So when those pictures, thoughts, flashes, and emotions come up, I'm working on learning to say, "I see you there. I understand you need to be addressed, but I'm choosing to set you aside for now. I'll come back to you at the time I have chosen to deal with your kind of issues. You don't get to choose anymore. I choose when and how and with whom I deal with the past."

Because I don't want to lose now, this present moment, because I was so busy trying to set right the past.

linking up with 5 Minute Friday