The past does not exist, and the future has not begun. The present is an infinitely small point in time where the nonexistent past meets the imminent future. “At this point, which is timeless,” observed the writer Leo Tolstoy, “a person’s real life exists.”
Tolstoy is not alone in stressing the need to focus on the present moment. In a letter titled On the Shortness of Life, Seneca urges us to realize:
“The greatest impediment to living is expectancy, which relies on tomorrow and wastes today. You map out what is in fortune’s hand but let slip what’s in your own hand.”
What does it actually mean to say the past does not exist?
Tolstoy and others are not suggesting the past didn’t happen. Only that “time” does not exist in the way we often think. Reflect for a moment on the five-year-old version of yourself. Does this person exist? Can someone have a conversation with this person? Yes, but not exactly…
The notion that time is quickly passing by is fairly straightforward. “Existence is like a river in ceaseless flow,” is how Marcus Aurelius put it. However, it is easy to forget that we are inextricably linked to this river of time. There is no going upstream or downstream — we flow with it.
The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein famously proclaimed,
“If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present.”
In the short book (and fun read) Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life They Change It, author Daniel Klein reflects on the idea from Wittgenstein. According to Klein, several philosophers have plausibly argued that ultimately the past exists only in a mental construct we call memory. The future only exists in a mental construct; it is something we imagine or project based on our experience. “In both cases,” writes Klein, “mental activities are happening in the present. So all we ultimately have is — the here and now.”
Why does any of this matter in daily life?
Imagine someone on a three-hour rafting trip. They float gently down the river, taking in the sights and sounds. What happens if they spend much of the time focusing on what has already passed or what might be coming ahead?
To quote Tolstoy, “Time is behind us, time is before us, but in the present, there is no time.”
—
Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,