The Past, Present, and Future

When people think about the past, they generally think about occasions or events that have already happened. However, I have come to realize that it is much greater than that. For me, the past has become like a library of events that have occurred in my life. This library of events is then used to define the present and future. For example, if a person is trying to recreate something that they have done before, such as a new skateboarding trick, they will probably think, "Huh. That worked before. Maybe it will again." Conversely, if someone has made a terrible mistake in the past, such as falling off their skateboard and scraping their hands and knees, they will (probably) learn from it and think, "Let's not try that again."

That's not to say mistakes are bad, however; they all help us learn and grow as people. In fact, sometimes it can be a bad thing not to try something again after failing the first time; but that's a completely different topic.

The present, however, strangely feels exactly the opposite of the past. You don't know what's going to happen now at this very second, and, unlike the past or the future, the present only lasts in the very moment you are in now. I feel that out of the past, present, and future, the present is the most finicky because it only lasts for a moment.

The future happens when the present becomes the past, and although it's impossible to tell what will happen in the future, anyone can take control of their now in order to make their future happen. Although it is good of thinking ahead for the future, sometimes it can be a bad thing. Overthinking what will happen in a year or even in a decade does not really have a point, and many people, myself included, spend too much time thinking about what will happen instead of what we should do now.

Something very interesting that has been brought up in my English class, the concept of fatalism, has made me contemplate its validity. Fatalism is the concept that your future is set in stone, and there is nothing you can do to fight against it. Personally, I like to believe that we control our futures, because if the actions we do in the future are set in stone, then that means what we do now is also set in stone. However, there is no proper way of disproving the concept of fatalism, which is what makes it such an interesting topic. However, I want to hear what other people think of this, so if anybody reads this, please tell me what you think of fatalism!

All in all, the past, present, and future are what make up our lives, so you should make it count!