I heard the perfect analogy while listening to a mindfulness lecture the other day.
The instructor said to imagine that you're walking a distance with two loaded shopping bags. One is in the left hand. The other in the right.
The one in the right hand is labeled "The Future." The one in the left is labeled "The Past."
The further we walk while carrying these two bags, the tireder we become. Until finally we stop to rest and set them down. And as soon as we catch our breath we feel more peaceful and calm.
He pointed out that many of us live our lives that way. We carry the future with us. And, we also carry the past. Both of them burden us equally.
Many of us spend our lives in the past. Thinking of the wrongs we have done. Or that have been done to us.
Same with the future. We spend a lot of time worrying about how we're going to get our bills paid, or our car fixed, or deal with our health.
Yet none of that ruminating does us any good. For we can do nothing about the past - or the future.
But we can do something about the present, which is where everything happens. And that is where we should remain as much as possible because that's how we can get things done. And remove the depression and anxiety from our lives.
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