The only thing that is truly real is the present moment. Neither the past nor the future exist.

The past is a story we tell ourselves about what happened. Even eyewitness histories and recordings are only inaccurate depictions of the events that transpired.

The future is a story we tell ourselves about what may happen. Two people anticipating the same event will not share identical expectations, any more than they will share identical memories after the event is over. The most eagerly awaited moment, as well as the most agonizingly dreaded, can and often will turn out quite differently from the story we have told ourselves. There is little to be gained from being so nostalgic or so anticipatory that we forget that now is where actual experience is happening and where we can have an effect on what is to come.

In pointing this out, I am absolutely not suggesting that we should refuse to plan for the future; nor should we neglect to learn from the past. It