Heroes Not Zombies

present.jpg, originally uploaded by bobsee.

Here’s a slide I made for one of the talks I give to medical students and doctors. I use this diagram during consultations with patients sometimes too.
Imagine that from the left to right here is your life line – the day you’re born on the far left and the day you’re going to die on the far right. We all know our left hand dates but none of us know our right hand ones! Let’s assume we are currently about half way along (I know, I know, but “middle age” seems to stretch for longer periods the older you get!)
Everything from the day you were born until now is in the past. It exists in our memories. Everything from now until you are going to die is the future. It exists in our imaginations.
If you spend most of your time thinking about and talking about the past, or most of the time worrying about what might happen in the future, the one place where you are not spending your time is – THE PRESENT.
So, if the past or the future is troubling you and consuming your thoughts and your energy, then draw your attention into the present from time to time. The more you do so, the less you’ll be spending time, attention and effort in your memories or in your imagination. You’ll be living NOW, experiencing life as it is actually happening.