Staying in the present

Here's a wonderful passage from Paul Wilson's Instant Calm:

At the root of most emotional disorders or discomforts is one of two conditions: concerns about the past, or anxiety about the future.

Scary, isn't it, how so much pain can be produced by states that simply do not exist. Both past and future are abstract concepts yet, in Western countries, concerns for what's past and what's yet to happen cause more insecurity, anxiety, fear, frustration and tension than anything that ever really happens.

People who carry concerns about the past - such as guilt, regret or embarrassment - are concerned with something they have no hope of influencing. Similarly, people who have anxiety about the future - whether they'll ever be safe, happy, loved, or successful - are generally concerned with something they can have only minor influence over, at best.

The only state you can really influence is the present.

Will Rogers was once asked what he's do if he only had five days left to live. "Why," he answered matter-of-factly, "I'd live each day one at a time."

Basic but profound.