Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

I subscribe to a daily notification from the website "Inspirational Thought for the Day." I use it to publish on my blog, when I find thoughts that apply to my life or, I think, might help someone else.

The following proverb has been taken from that site.

"Yesterday is a dream, tomorrow but a vision.
But today well-lived
makes every yesterday a dream of happiness,
and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore to this day."
-- Sanskrit Proverb

Think of it.

Today is what we have. Yesterday will never return and tomorrow is never guaranteed. Knowing this, how appropriate is the Sanskrit Proverb.

Many of us spend today thinking of yesterday. We think of the past with longing and we wish we could go back. I am guilty of such practice. I love to spend time wishing I could go back and do things over, to say things I wanted to say, and to avoid mistakes I have made. I am even more guilty when I long for a past that was never mine to begin with. I long for the 1800s or perhaps the 1930s. These two time periods hold a magical spell on me. None the less, they are in the past and there they will stay.

And, how many of us spend today wishing about tomorrow? We say that tomorrow things will be better and that tomorrow we will start something new. Tomorrow is the procrastinator's favorite word! Tomorrow I will start a new diet; tomorrow I will enroll in school, or I will learn a new skill or language, or whatever it is that we are interested in pursuing. Tomorrow...

Neither is very productive. We cannot go back in time and live again those moments we long for. We can remember them, but we cannot actually live them again. We cannot make things better tomorrow or start something new tomorrow if we are procrastinating today.

Having said that, why not make today the day we work on tomorrow's ideas and use yesterday's memories to create change and enjoy today?

Wishing everyone a very productive and happy today!

The pictures I have chosen represent the past (Roman Empire), the present (leaves changing colors), and the future (new airplane seat design).