There is one more time horizon that many people do not take into account, that is time scales beyond our life time.  There is a treasure trove of things we can learn from the past.  The actions we take in our life can have an impact on the future beyond our time on this planet as well as beyond the time of our children.  Here’s where the value of our life has a potential impact on the world at large.  Where we spend our time on a daily basis integrates with our environment and can foster future development and change or it can be squandered on the more selfish activities available to us.   Both have their place and ultimately it is up to us to balance our altruistic and pleasure seeking impulses in a manner that resonates with us as individuals.

Time simply ticks away on all horizons.  There’s no controlling time.  There’s no directing or organizing time.  We can only control ourselves within the time available to us.  The past unfolds into the present.  The present reflects both past paths and future probabilities.  So in this moment we have the opportunity to decide what’s of value and which direction we want to follow.   One of the things to orient our thoughts and feelings before we decide, is our various time horizons and the plans we have for them.  The future is where we have impact to change our lives.  It behooves us to consider the potential impacts of the decisions and actions we take now.  From this perspective, the future is now and now is already past.  All we can do is to guide ourselves through time by setting up situations for ourselves in the future through our actions taken now.

“In all our deeds, the proper value and respect for time determines success or failure.”
Malcom X

Pools into the horizon. Photo by Luca Galuzzi (wikicommons)