The Present

The past is history, the future is a mystery, and this moment is a gift. That is why this moment is called 'the present'.

I'm not quite sure who to attribute this quote to. I first read it in Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, but even in there he states it was told to him. Then I read it in this weeks Sports Illustrated of all places, and realized it must be one of those old time sayings that gets passed down through the ages, attributable to no one.

This quote, and the one I posted from Thoreau, speaks to the importance of being grounded in the present. As I've ventured further down the path of eastern philosophy and religion (Buddhism specifically) I've come to realize that this present moment awareness is one of the pillars of their thinking (meditation being one of the others that I'd love to discuss at some point).

But you don't have to be Buddhist to see the wisdom in the idea: that the past is behind you, and while you can draw knowledge from your experiences, there is no way to change any of it; the future lay out in front of you like a great mystery, but knowing exactly what or how anything is going to happen is impossible; the only thing you have control over is this moment right now.

When put forth that way, it really makes me feel the importance and power of present moment awareness. That's why I love the quote from Thoreau, because it conjures an image of myself standing at the precipice of two eternities (past and future). I too want to toe that line.