We are all fixated on time.

We spend our entire lives thinking about the past, present and future. Some say our past affects our present, which then, in turn, affects our future. Some say we are who we are today based on events that happened in our past, that our past defines us. But what about the mistakes and regrets we made in the past? Do those define us as well?

Past events make us wiser. They expand our knowledge of what life entails. Some events in our past can make us act and behave a certain way toward ourselves and others. However painful or wonderful those past memories can be, we cannot let them affect how we view other people and situations. Our standards and expectations are based on similar events that occurred in our past.

Often times our closed minds hold us back from experiencing an event to the fullest. In order to truly gain knowledge about life and become wiser, we have to enter each new experience with an open mind.

We do not have to forget events in our past, and I encourage you not to. But we cannot let past events define how we see present and future experiences. We learn our lessons from the past and we do our best to move on and not let it affect our judgement for new experiences. If we live in constant fear of our past, how are we ever going to be able to enjoy the present?

The future can be extremely intimidating. The unknown is what terrifies us. Fortunately, we have the ability to control our future. Granted, not everything is in our control, but we have the ability to shape and mold it to our liking. If we live in fear of our future as well, we miss out on the true beauty of creating it.

The future is not something to fear. I mean, you have the control to shape it. If something does not go your way, there are thousands of other paths to choose from. One mishap from our past, one mishap while shaping our future and even one mishap in the present should not completely shut us down from living with an open mind.

Living in the present is incredibly important. We miss so many opportunities every day by not realizing the potential that each day holds. We procrastinate, we become lazy and we miss out on special moments without even realizing.

We need to take seize of every opportunity because, well, you only live once. You might regret not taking up that offer for a summer program, or turn down going out with friends just to binge watch a season on Netflix. We never realize what opportunities we have in our present until they are gone. When they are gone, we realize what we missed out on and we regret not taking up that opportunity. A part of growing wiser and gaining more knowledge is going out and experiencing as much as you possibly can.

Yesterday has passed, today is almost over and tomorrow is not promised.