Some people claim that the living in the present can actually cause more harm than good.They say that in order to lead a productive and profitable life, one must study both thepast and the future, the present is only a stepping stone. I think that this is quite theopposite. The past must be learned from, the future must be looked at, but the present iswhere things happen, where a person can make things happen. In each persons time, he has the chance to make a mark upon the world. Eachperson can take his life into his own hands and decide what to do with it, how to mold it.These choices can often be hard to make. Frequently one's opinions and ...view middle of the document...
Life, love, and friendship are the most precious things on this earth, it is veryimportant for each to find his true love and friends, and live his life with them to its fullestpotential. The past is just that, the past. There is nothing you can do about it except learnfrom it. In the last year I have spent countless hours contemplating what I could havedone different to change the events that took place last October. The death of Jen Elliott,my friend, was the hardest thing I have ever experience in my short life. I would havegiven anything and everything to go back and change those events, and I still would.However, I have learned that there is nothing I can truly do, except learn from her andcomfort her family. What I learned from her is that none of us know how long we will behere. We have to live each day like it is our last, because it may be. The future, will always be the future. We have to set a goal as to what our futureswill be and always keep that goal in sight. We mustn't, though, let this goal take over ourlife. There will always be a future and a goal until the last minute. We have to take whatwe can now; be with our friends and family and care for them. The past and the future are guideposts, beacons. They are not more. You can'tlive in the past, you can't get there. You can't live in the future, you haven't reached ityet. You must live in the present, or you haven't lived at all.