We all have a preference around where our mind rests. For some, it rests in the past; what has happened certainly predicts what will happen. For others, your mind rests in this moment. You know, better than some of the rest of us, that this moment is vital and complete. And then for the rest of us, our mind is in the future. We long for the future, see the room painted before the paint is purchased. See the end before the first few important steps have been taken. You have an orientation to time that fits who you are. You linger in one of these three spaces. The past, this moment, or the future. Which one is your preference?
I first noticed this when a beloved child would ask with great regularity, “What are we doing today?” After this first question was answered, they would ask, “Then, what?” The child’s curiosity continued with their “Then, what?” until I ran out of answers. This child lives in the future, in what is going to happen. If you have a child who struggles to get their homework done or the chores completed, you may be raising a child who is in the future.
Another child does not like to plan too far in advance. When asked if they wanted to make brownies after school, the answer was physical and verbal: a shrug of the shoulders and one word answer: “Maybe.” This child is in the moment. Right here and now is what this one focused on. But when they were ready to make brownies, they would ask, “Could we make brownies now?” Oh, they are in this moment. Sure, let us make brownies now. This child does not need to know the whole plan. This child is in just this moment.
Now, let us take this into our relationships with one another. I am a future person. I am usually a few steps ahead of those folks who live in the past and in the now. I miss some things. My husband is a person whose mind rests in the past. Neither of us is right here, right now. I am planning for the next thing. And he is thinking about the last thing.
So, I invite you to notice your preference. Where did it create a disconnect with life, with a friend, a child? Maybe with yourself and God? Our preference to time has worked for us. Only until that preference doesn’t. A day may come when the only moment you are called to be in is this moment, or to reflect on moments past, or to see the prospects of the future. Because we are all invited to move outside of our area of comfort and grow into More of life.