The Future is Now! So will the past be.

Easier said than done! Yet, there are some strong words from some books that can change the way you approach the past and future, and even your own mind, to stay in the present and enjoy the moments.

1. Don’t Believe Everything You Think

In Don’t Believe Everything You Think, the idea is simple: your brain is tricking you. We often assume our thoughts are facts, but they’re not. It’s our thoughts that create emotions, not the other way around. So, take a step back. Be skeptical. Observe your thoughts without believing every single one. Your natural state is calm, happy, confident, and free of worry. But the “what ifs” drag you into a world of hypothetical problems. You end up suffering from things that may never even happen.

2. Rumination Doesn’t Give You Control!

Thinking something over and over doesn’t give you control. It might feel like you’re preparing for something or reflecting, but in reality, you’re just stuck in a loop. Constantly replaying scenarios or obsessing over how you could’ve handled a past situation isn’t productive. The person you’re thinking about has probably moved on, but you’re still holding onto it. Reflection helps you learn and move on; rumination keeps you trapped.

3. Do Not “Not Think About the Elephant in the Room”

Avoiding a thought only makes it grow bigger. The more you try to push it away, the more it takes over. Instead, let the thought be there. Observe it, but don’t own it. As The Book of Moods suggests, treat it like a game. Every time you walk into a room, notice something that shouldn’t be there. Now do that with your thoughts. Notice where they come from, question whether they’re useful, and if you can’t do anything about them, let them go. Write them down if you have to, but don’t let them take over.

4. Embrace the Power of Now

The Power of Now teaches that the only moment you can actually deal with is now. You can’t solve future problems that haven’t happened yet. Trust that when a problem comes, you’ll deal with it then. Most of the time, what you fear doesn’t turn out as bad as you imagine. Like Seneca said, “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”