Time can be viewed and reflected on in many ways. You can look to the past and reflect on what has happened. You may look to the future and guess what will happen. Finally, you may simply choose to live in the present and view what is happening now. There is a significant importance of each and a balance that must be maintained.
Being reflective on the past is important. In Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf the main character, Clarissa, often reflects on her past. She is middle aged at the start of the novel and reflects to a time where she was much younger. Like Clarissa, I often find myself looking to the past. I believe it is healthy to look to the past. You can figure out your past mistakes, reminisce on good times, and figure out how to better yourself as a person. Though when looking on the past, it is important not to dwell on negative events; such as, who hurt you or who people used to be. I feel like one should not spend all of their time looking to the past because then they would never look to the future to create something better than their past.
One who looks to the future never sees today, nor tomorrow. This means that as much as you can think of how your choices now impact your future, you’ll never actually attain them. For example, if you set a goal such as becoming a doctor, you will figure out you must go to med school, attain a certain GPA, and participate in volunteer work. Then when you become a doctor, you will probably already have set the goal to be a head surgeon or various other life choices. Not saying that being goal-oriented is a bad thing, but strictly living in the future won’t allow you to experience the present and the joy that comes with it. What are goals worth when you don’t get to reap the rewards of your work?
What can one say about living in the present? It is spontaneous and difficult to do. It often takes a go-with-the-flow personality type. I can’t think of a way in which I could live by thinking solely in the present. Not caring about what has happened in the past, not changing based on past experiences, and not caring about what tomorrow brings. I believe that without looking to the future I would have nothing to live for, and without looking to the past I would have nothing to learn from. While it is important to enjoy what happens on a day-to-day basis, focusing exclusively only on the here and now without learning form the past and dreaming of the future seems a bit foolish.
People should spend their lives in all aspects of time. The past should be looked at as a learning experience to improve your life. The future should be looked at to create goals to give your life direction. Finally, the present should be enjoyed for it wasn’t here yesterday and won’t be here tomorrow.
I like how you pointed out that living in the past, present and future is a balance and your incorporation of Mrs. Dalloway as an example.
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