why did this have to happen to me? past. me.
how am i going to get out of this? future. me.
thank you God for what you're doing in my life. today. you.
even though we have thousands of words and phrases to express meaning in-between layers of thought, emotion, and action...i think it's much easier when you categorize these phrases into time and relation. when you dwell too much on the past or the future there is less satisfaction in the present, and when you dwell too much on yourself you head in a direction towards loneliness.
a cure for thinking too much in the past or the future? thanking God for what you have now.
a cure for loneliness? thanking God which leads to thanking others too.
this is probably too simple, but it helps me think about my intentions before i say the things that i say.
Comments (2)
I thought this was really interesting, so I took awhile to think over it, and here’s what I came up with.
Thank you, God, for what you’ve brought me through. Past. You.
I trust you, God, to carry me through what comes. Future. You.
Why is this happening to me? Present. Me.
I think it’s even more simple than time and relation. To me it’s mainly about relation, focusing on God. Because sometimes thinking about the past and future can be healthy when you’re looking
at them within the perspective of God’s faithfulness. And sometimes, we lose sight of God’s faithfulness in the present.
I do agree with the statement, “when you dwell too much on the past or the future there is less satisfaction in the present.” Not so much because thinking about the past or future is necessarily negative, but because the past can’t be changed and the future can’t be told until it happens, so
it’s more fruitful to think about the present.
I think you hit it the nail on the head when you talk about thanking God and others. If we are thankful for past, present, and future (whatever may come), we will be more satisfied. Period.
Anyways…thanks for making me think. Don’t do enough of that in the summer. =)
- Candace
Hey Candace! Thanks for the reply! You caught me there. I didn't include the past/you and future/you portions, and you have some very good examples to demostrate that it's not bad to think in the past or future as long as the focus is upon God.
Very cool. I think your comment is inspiring me to write more stuff, hehe. Looking forward to hearing your stories when you get back from Europe!