by BreAnne Kautzky

Created on: January 29, 2007   Last Updated: April 23, 2007

Don't live in the past, nor in the future, but in the present.

That quote was given to me by one of my treatment counselors when I was struggling to stay strong. I had a methamphetamine addiction and used that drug everyday for three years. During that time and struggle I repeated that quote and started to follow it. Not just people suffering but people in everyday lives could benefit if they practice what the quote says.

The quote starts off don't live in the past. So it is basically saying do not dwell on the mistakes you made in the past; forgive yourself and forgive others and focus on the now and not the then. My past consists of horrible memories, so much anger towards my father for being abusive, anger at my mom for abandoning my brother and I with our dad. My past also has all the mistakes that I can't believe I made. I am only eighteen and I will not live my life angry about things that happened, I will not beat myself up for bad choices. It's the past, it's gone, it can't be fixed so forgive yourself and others and move forward.

The second part is, nor in the future. This one I struggled to grasp. It is not saying you can't dream about you future life or plan things, it's saying stay on ground level. I would get so worked up, nervous and scared about court dates that were weeks away, but I was so nervous that was all I could think about and I missed probably some very valuable time with my family and friends because I got depressed about a court date twenty days from then and whole up, I let twenty days of my life just pass by.

The best part of the quote is the ending and it says, but in the present. That says it alone. Live in the day and time your body is physically living in and enjoy it. I am a happy, successful, sober college student and I have come so far to let the past drag me down and the future, yes I get nervous about things but it does not run my life. I have more important things to do and people to see to spend days worrying about something that will happen on a different day.

That quote has really helped me in enjoying my life and not taking the people I have in my life for granted and learning to appreciate what I do have because some are way less fortunate. Yes I had a rough life and bad times but you don't need those. Take the time, evaluate what you think about on a daily basis and how it makes you feel and then identify it with the past, present, or future.

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