“Focus on Your Present” - Professor M.S.Rao

“I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present.  That’s where the fun is.” - Donald Trump

I have seen some people often brooding about their unpleasant past thus applying brakes to their present life.  They are often concerned more about their past bitter memories or unpleasant experiences thus doing injustice to the present life. I have also come across some people who are unduly worried about their future, and how destiny would take them. In fact, there is no meaning in thinking about your past as it cannot be changed and concerning about the future which is unpredictable. What you have now is only your present. Marie Ray rightly said, “We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our had .. and melting like a snowflake.  Let us use it before it is too late.”

Life is very short. We should learn how to make it better by contributing our best. Everyone makes mistakes and nobody grows without mistakes. Mistakes teach us several lessons and we grow out of our lessons. Life is meant for taking risk and we must take risk and explore whatever the way it is possible.   When you look at Paulo Coelho he wrote many books including the famous one, The Alchemist where it was based on his life journey and experiences.  He traveled several places, and based on his experiences he authored this book which is a run away hit globally. If he were depressed with his past setbacks and failures while pursuing his education he would not have become a great writer.  He learned lessons and wrote the book and people enjoy reading his books including The Alchemist.  Similarly, when you look at Viktor Frankl he was a Jew who survived from concentration camps during World War II under the Hitler regime.  He learned lessons from his suffering, and said that suffering is a part of life and one has to suffer and overcome it. He wrote a famous book, Man’s Search for Meaning where he highlighted the trials and tribulations he underwent in the concentration camps. If he had taken about his past negatively and depressed we wouldn’t have authored a great book like Man’s Search for Meaning. Therefore, we must learn lessons from our past unpleasant experiences and move on with confidence.

Research shows that people waste 30 percent of their precious life by thinking about their past which cannot be changed. Hence, don’t worry about the past and at the same time don’t worry about the future. In fact, your future is your hands and you can shape your destiny the way you want it provided you learn to live on the present. Mahatma Gandhi rightly said, “The future depends on what we do in the present.”  Precisely, your future is created from your present against the backdrop of the past.  Remember the famous cliché, ‘yesterday is a cancelled cheque, tomorrow is a promissory note and today is the only cash you have at hand’. And cash is king and present is precious. Enjoy the present by balancing your pressures and pleasures to provide meaning to your life and lead your life peacefully and successfully. To conclude in the words of Gerald Jampolsky, "How simple it is to see that all the worry in the world cannot control the future. How simple it is to see that we can only be happy now. And that there will never be a time when it is not now."

“This is the beginning of a new day.

God has given me this day to use as I will.

I can waste it or use it for good.

What I do today is important, because

I am exchanging a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes,

this day will be gone forever,

leaving in its place something

that I have traded for it.

I want it to be gain, not loss;

good not evil; success not failure;

in order that I shall not regret

the price I paid for it.” - Author Unknown

Professor M.S.Rao

Founder, MSR Leadership Consultants, India

Email: profmsr12@gmail.com

Blog: http://professormsrao.blogspot.com

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