The Present Says Much More About You Than The Past

We are often defined by our past, we may even be predictable because of it, but it doesn’t always reveal who we are. Many of us find unique lessons in the experiences we have to face our present, and this can reflect more faithfully on who we truly are. People are not permanent and immutable, quite the contrary : the transformation process is a daily struggle. So the present says a lot more about you than the past.

There can be no transformation without the emotion component. The emotions we experience are the main causes of our behavior. We cannot change fate; if we could, it wouldn’t be fate. But man, yes, can change, otherwise he would not be a man.

The goals we pursue reveal, in large part, who we are.  Achieving our goals is not as important as what we become when we pursue them. We have a place in the present, it doesn’t matter who we were last week, if we know who we are today.

The present says a lot, but only 20% of our brain is in it.

Our brain loves going from past to future and from future to past without stopping at the present, not even to refuel. 40% of the human brain devotes its resources to assumptions and hypotheses that will never materialize. The other 40% are stuck in past situations and conflicts, leaving only 20% to what truly matters, what we are in the present.

This is why it is so common for both others and ourselves to describe ourselves from a past focus. Some research suggests that the present is a hard place for the brain to reach, but it can be trained. Having goals and a direction to follow makes us more connected with our surroundings.

The past gives us a lot of information about how we were, but the present says a lot about who we are. For our brain, it’s much easier to stick with information from the past (which has already been processed); that is why many of us find it difficult to see ourselves as we really are, having an outdated image of our essence and our sense of actuality.

Phrases like “the past was much better” show how our brain tends to past events.  The brain reinvents our memories to make them more positive. Memory takes fragments of the present moment and inserts them into the past so that they fit better into our current world.

We can’t choose where we came from, but we can choose where we’re going

We all have a past, and sometimes that past was our choice. As we take control of our lives, we choose, take action and observe which ways of life best suit our tastes and values. Knowing where we are going implies a growth in self-control, judgment and generosity (or at least the willingness to do so).

Every choice has a consequence. If we don’t like our choice and its consequence, instead of going back to the past with our mind, we should look for a new choice and a new consequence. Is the path we choose always the right one? These are consequences that we cannot know in advance, but we know that the right thing, more than the right thing, is in the choice.

We can choose to forget the beliefs that limit us and build others that make our lives more fun, that bring more luck. Only ghosts refer to the past, explaining themselves with descriptions based on their lives already chosen, lived and somehow ended. We are what we chose to be today, not what we chose to be before.

“I can teach anyone to get what they want out of life. The problem is, I can’t find anyone to say what I want.”
– Mark Twain-