Present Tense

Do you see the way that tree bends?
Does it inspire?
Leaning out to catch the sun’s rays.
A lesson to be applied…
You can spend your time alone, redigesting past regrets,
Or you can come to terms and realize
You’re the only one who cannot forgive yourself.
Makes much more sense to live in the present tense.
-Pearl Jam, “Present Tense”-

 

If you’ve been reading my blog, you are probably catching on. I love Pearl Jam, I love music and I love lyrics. Lyrics are like poetry, words that tell a story. And the lyrics that we usually love the most are the lyrics we can relate to, the lyrics we can apply to our own lives.

So what is it about Present Tense that’s so relatable? Well, go back to the top of this page and read the lyrics again. Can YOU relate to these lyrics too?

Think about it. On any given day, do you stop and just enjoy the sun’s rays? Are you enjoying what’s in front of you? Or do you worry? Do you have regrets? Do you wish you had not done something or said something at some point in your life? What is keeping you from living for today?

It’s easy to think about the way we may have acted in the past. Maybe you wish you had treated someone differently.  Or maybe you wish you had been more thoughtful before speaking words that you could never take back. Maybe you just wish that you had made better decisions or different decisions throughout life.

If you sat down for a long time in a quiet place to reflect on your life, you could probably come up with one hundred things you wish you had done or said differently. And if you’re a parent, you know more than ever, that this is true.

We look back at the days when we weren’t parents and we were young and selfish. Oh, how we wish we had treated people differently or made better decisions. And more than that, we constantly review our parenting skills. We question ourselves every day, wondering if we have made the right decisions in the ways we have chosen to parent our child(ren).

When we look into the past, we realize we all have regrets.

But life is a journey. It’s a journey of ups and downs. And if we did not make mistakes, say or do hurtful things, or make the wrong decisions, we would not grow in this lifetime. We would not learn from our mistakes. We would not become better people. We would not become even better parents.

So now’s the time. It’s time to let go. Stop dwelling on the things you did and on the things you wish you had not done. We do not know what the future holds. And the past is now behind us. So doesn’t it make much more sense to live in the present tense?