by Jimmy Nightingale

Created on: July 01, 2009   Last Updated: January 05, 2010

Is it better to live for today and forget tomorrow, or to plan ahead?

Ah, such a weighty philosophical matter. And a question that depends a lot on perspective. A young child, say three or four years' old, has no concept of the future. They see that their parents are bigger than them but don't question why that is so. They certainly do not attribute that difference to ageing/time. As we age, we become aware of our own mortality, possibly through the passing of our own parents or having the odd close call ourselves. When we have children, our focus becomes more outward looking and we tend to plan for their future and, in so doing, our own. In our twilight years, we've come full circle. The proximity of our own mortality serves as a spur to live life to the here and now, though it is not so much our childhood obliviousness to the future but rather being all too aware of what the future holds and trying hard not to think too much about it.

A quote from Master Oogway (Dustin Hoffman's character in "Kung Fu Panda"), originally part of a longer piece from Alice Morse Earle is:

"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present".

Profound words and seemingly an endorsement for living for today. But are Earle's words intended to suggest that we should forget altogether about tomorrow? The simple answer is "No".

Alice Morse Earle was an American historian and her works are notable for emphasising the finer details of the social history in the 19th century rather than grand themes. Her focus was on family and domestic life and reinforced her own Puritan values of discipline, respect and morality. Having said that, she was deeply critical of the Puritan tendency to marry for property or social standing rather than for love. This is partly where she is coming from with her quote.

It may also have been written following her close call with death in 1909. After her husband's death, Earle travelled extensively and on a trip to Egypt she fell into the water after a shipping accident off the coast of Nantucket and nearly drowned. This adversely affected her health and she died two years later. She understood that she was dying and perhaps regretted some of her own life choices and wanted to make every day count.

As mentioned earlier - a matter of perspective. Her marriage to Henry Earle, presumably in line with the Puritanical objective of property or standing, can be seen as planning ahead. Then that perspective was turned on

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