You may have heard the sage advice, “if you don’t change the present, you past predicts your future.”  Simply the contemplation of this can radically change your disposition, if not your focus-point (at minimum) for the moment.  The foundation of this advice lies in understanding your place of power, which is—and only can be—in the present moment.  Now is the only time you have a choice in what to do, think, and believe.

While beautiful moments of reminiscence can be powerful and helpful, most thoughts of the past reside with a tinge of resentment, guilt, or escape.  Future thoughts too—with amazing daydreams of holidays to come or reuniting with a loved one—more often than not are rooted in some version of “when this happens…, then I’ll be more…”.  What if you believed, no matter what current circumstance, that this moment is absolutely perfect?  And, from this perspective, the only logical next thought of is one of limitless possibility of what’s to come?

Take a moment, and a few deep breaths, and ask yourself:  What are you present to in this moment?  What’s the learning experience or takeaway you’re receiving? How can you drop one more weight of the past, or assumptive prediction of the future, and be more fulfilled and appreciative right now?