I’m always thinking in the past, regretting things that I did and didn’t do- but then again, I’m always looking forward, as to where I want to be in life and what I need to do to get there. I’m never in the present just enjoying my young life.
me same mostly
but if i let it drift i guess im drifting back not imagining forward. in the now is hard to keep ! but at least the smell of breakfast cooking is reminding me there is something i need to be doing at this moment
I am mostly in the here and now, but I check the notes on my calendar to know what is coming up, so that I can get ready for it. Each day is exciting and what we have planned for the days ahead is also exciting. I think of it and shop for what I need. If it is a pot luck dinner with friends, then I need to plan what dish I will take.
I don’t do much in the way of looking back. Now and then something will remind me of some funny memory of my late (dead) husband’s clownish antics. I could just shut them out of my mind, but instead, I remember how funny it was. So, I stop what I am doing and simply laugh out loud. I don’t have any regrets to look back on. I just look to the future and enjoying life in the here and now.
it Is good to be open to our memories for sure. i think i am better at not dwelling on what has come before but i dont seem to think too far ahead. i mean life is always about being a few steps ahead (the ever on going planning of child care and what food to pack for our days :D) but i seem to dream back as opposed to forward more lately.
here and now is a good place to be though!
I cannot do either for any length of time. I was exposed to a spiritual teaching called “The Bigger Now” when I was younger. It expanded my perception of what we call the time stream.
Consider the now of this moment as an aperture. To always be looking back means the aperture is greatly restricted or even closed; in one keeps recycling, repeating history over and over again.
Keeping the now as large as possible means the light from our past from our great-grandparents pasts, from the species past from the universe’s past, can shine through and create the largest possible cone of possibilities, and degrees of freedom for the future.
And too great a focus on just what MAY be ahead robs one of the joy of the now and can very easily have us falling into a pit that an adequate light shining from the past would have illuminated.
And this is why I cannot let looking back or looking ahead become my key focus. My focus is on keeping to the now as big as possible.
I first heard this teaching, in so many words, from a Native Shaman. After this I could see how the Bible also alluded to it very strongly.
And James Redfield sums it up well in secular terms in his first book in series, The Celestine Prophecy. He presents it in novel form, making it very easy to relate to.
It’s 50-50. You can’t go forward without knowing what’s been done in the past. There’s a classic saying “Those who do not know their past are doomed to repeat it.”
But keep in mind opening as much as you do allows that much more hurt. You say basically you can’t be hurt because you know people are human… but that doesn’t help much if you end up in a sticky situation that you can’t extract yourself from that you would have never been in if you had not allowed the potentiality of trusting that person to begin with!
Yes, it does. It is alleged that Jesus “saw” more of the “now” than anyone else could . . . and he wept bitterly.
Hurt doesn’t stop. But healing out-paces it. It’s a bit like being a spiritual Wolverine!
And with this spiritual “healing factor”, one can walk confidently into a lot of “”interesting times”” . . . and coming out the other side not just intact but a better person for the experience.
There is an art form to trusting people . . . to be people! Fellowship and forgiveness doesn’t have to mean one is gullible or everyone’s door-mat. Understanding of this grows with experience. But experience ceases if one is “traumatized” by the reality that is before us and cannot heal.
I look back quite a bit. I don’t look forward much, unless it is about the inevitable. Seeing things that have happened or will happen is easier than things that may. I live in the moment and in the past for the most part.
It’s had its moments. Some memories are not so great, but I like to think that thinking about them will keep me from making those mistakes again. The good ones help remind me how lucky I am (or have been) and how grateful I should be to have experienced them.
oopsie! i went all clicky there. aaaanywaaaay i Like what you are saying. its pretty healthy to be able to look back and not dwell in the negative. or to see experiences as lessons and gifts …
18 responses to “Looking Back to Looking Forward”
I’m always thinking in the past, regretting things that I did and didn’t do- but then again, I’m always looking forward, as to where I want to be in life and what I need to do to get there. I’m never in the present just enjoying my young life.
me same mostly
but if i let it drift i guess im drifting back not imagining forward. in the now is hard to keep ! but at least the smell of breakfast cooking is reminding me there is something i need to be doing at this moment
I look forward with hope, and I reminisce with no regrets.
that is a good and probably ideal perspective ! <3
I am mostly in the here and now, but I check the notes on my calendar to know what is coming up, so that I can get ready for it. Each day is exciting and what we have planned for the days ahead is also exciting. I think of it and shop for what I need. If it is a pot luck dinner with friends, then I need to plan what dish I will take.
I don’t do much in the way of looking back. Now and then something will remind me of some funny memory of my late (dead) husband’s clownish antics. I could just shut them out of my mind, but instead, I remember how funny it was. So, I stop what I am doing and simply laugh out loud. I don’t have any regrets to look back on. I just look to the future and enjoying life in the here and now.
it Is good to be open to our memories for sure. i think i am better at not dwelling on what has come before but i dont seem to think too far ahead. i mean life is always about being a few steps ahead (the ever on going planning of child care and what food to pack for our days :D) but i seem to dream back as opposed to forward more lately.
here and now is a good place to be though!
I cannot do either for any length of time. I was exposed to a spiritual teaching called “The Bigger Now” when I was younger. It expanded my perception of what we call the time stream.
Consider the now of this moment as an aperture. To always be looking back means the aperture is greatly restricted or even closed; in one keeps recycling, repeating history over and over again.
Keeping the now as large as possible means the light from our past from our great-grandparents pasts, from the species past from the universe’s past, can shine through and create the largest possible cone of possibilities, and degrees of freedom for the future.
And too great a focus on just what MAY be ahead robs one of the joy of the now and can very easily have us falling into a pit that an adequate light shining from the past would have illuminated.
And this is why I cannot let looking back or looking ahead become my key focus. My focus is on keeping to the now as big as possible.
i would like to expand my capacity for now
I first heard this teaching, in so many words, from a Native Shaman. After this I could see how the Bible also alluded to it very strongly.
And James Redfield sums it up well in secular terms in his first book in series, The Celestine Prophecy. He presents it in novel form, making it very easy to relate to.
oh right, i do remember enjoying that book when i read it. long time ago now. maybe i should revisit it
It’s 50-50. You can’t go forward without knowing what’s been done in the past. There’s a classic saying “Those who do not know their past are doomed to repeat it.”
But those who never move beyond just knowing their past . . . ARE repeating it.
The aperture of the Now closes down around them and a future of possibilities and freedom is denied them.
But keep in mind opening as much as you do allows that much more hurt. You say basically you can’t be hurt because you know people are human… but that doesn’t help much if you end up in a sticky situation that you can’t extract yourself from that you would have never been in if you had not allowed the potentiality of trusting that person to begin with!
Yes, it does. It is alleged that Jesus “saw” more of the “now” than anyone else could . . . and he wept bitterly.
Hurt doesn’t stop. But healing out-paces it. It’s a bit like being a spiritual Wolverine!
And with this spiritual “healing factor”, one can walk confidently into a lot of “”interesting times”” . . . and coming out the other side not just intact but a better person for the experience.
There is an art form to trusting people . . . to be people! Fellowship and forgiveness doesn’t have to mean one is gullible or everyone’s door-mat. Understanding of this grows with experience. But experience ceases if one is “traumatized” by the reality that is before us and cannot heal.
I look back quite a bit. I don’t look forward much, unless it is about the inevitable. Seeing things that have happened or will happen is easier than things that may. I live in the moment and in the past for the most part.
i hope that when you visit there, your past is a good place to hang out?
It’s had its moments. Some memories are not so great, but I like to think that thinking about them will keep me from making those mistakes again. The good ones help remind me how lucky I am (or have been) and how grateful I should be to have experienced them.
oopsie! i went all clicky there. aaaanywaaaay i Like what you are saying. its pretty healthy to be able to look back and not dwell in the negative. or to see experiences as lessons and gifts …