I have been reading the book When Things Fall Apart by the Buddhist Nun Pema Chödrön and in it she talks about the path we walk only existing in the present. We cannot see the future, but we can see the past behind us, but only in our memory of it. She said “What we do accumulates; the future is the result of what we do right now.”
In other words the actions we take in the present influence what our future will be like. If we want a positive future our aspiration and exertion should reflect this in the present. We influence our next steps on our path with our mind, speech and actions in every moment.
The test comes when we find ourselves in a challenging situation. How we handle the situation also influences our future. If we lose it and react emotionally, then our immediate future will be different than if we calmly looked for a cause of the situation and looked for a solution to make it better.
It is not always easy to remain calm, but, with practise it is possible.
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