There are generally three types of thinkers.

Those who “live” in the past, those who choose to “live” in the future and those who live the majority of their time in the present. None of us can predict the future, and the past has already happened — we are the reality of the now, of the present.

The best in life happens only when you are present and in the moment.

If happiness is your goal, you must master this concept. Those of us who spend a lot of time thinking about the past are bound by ego and very judgmental in relationships with others, and with themselves. Past experiences take a front seat and can often influence an open, present mind with bias from negative memories of the past. For some, this can even occur to the point where every new experience is filtered through difficult thoughts of the past.

Those of us who choose to live in the future are always under stress because we are living a life that we are predicting will happen, and no one, no matter how smart, can predict the future. This can cause us to constantly live under stress. The healthiest objective is to learn from our past through the wisdom we gain, and plan for our future by setting goals and/or objectives.

We can always reference them, but we should never let the past and future be constant sources of noise in our heads. Learning to live in the precious present is one of the finest riches in life because this is the only place where our happiness truly lives!