Daryl Zamora

Daily writing prompt

Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?

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As an overthinker, I find mulling on things past and future an ever-present reality.

And it’s both boon and bane.

It’s an advantage because it keeps me on my toes. I must always learn from the past, but also plan for the future. This helps me to decide the right course of action in the present moment.

But thinking about both also has the danger of me falling into inaction. Overwhelmed with thoughts about the past and the future, I’d be thinking in circles. It’s like scrolling on social media, unproductive, with no end in sight.

If I’d be more mindful and have to choose one or the other, I’d choose thinking about the future. Ideally I should be thinking about the past only 30% of the time as opposed to 70% on the future.

This is brings me to that famous maxim attributed to Socrates, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

One has to think about the past and the future and take action in the present.