Memoirs of an Amnesiac

Kung Fu Panda's Master Oogway once said, "Yesterday is history and tomorrow's a mystery; but today is a gift. That is why it is called as the "present."

Many of us live in a fast-paced world, trying to work, shed sweat, tears and probably blood for what we think is for our future. The fable on the ant and the grasshopper always reminds us to always save for the rainy day.

It used to be that I believed in tomorrow. It appears to me as some sort of mirage in a desert, always beckoning me to bask in it. When I graduated from college, I told myself, "In five years, I'm going to finish my master's degree and settle down with the man who will love me and whom I will take care for the rest of my life." Until now I'm still working on those dreams. The former will have to be realized soon (with God's grace) and the latter, I have completely no idea when. That is probably what makes me rethink about more future plans.

Really, after all I have seen, heard, felt and even believed about time, that ever present yet impeccable equalizer, I have started to rechannel some energies now to doing things for the moment, for now.

I guess I have learned all these because my so-called plans did not seem to materialize. Ecclesiastes always points out that there is a season and time for everything under the sun. This I am very fast to quip. Small wonder that while I was 14, an adult friend told me not to hurry in growing up. I might be 25 or 30 but I will only be 14 once. Now, I can nod with much gusto at how correct she was!

Another favorite poet of mine Kalidasa couldn't have said it much better in his poem, "Look to this Day." He said that the past is a dream and tomorrow's a vision. Today well-lived becomes tomorrow's yesterday.

I live for the now. I bask in its radiance because it's the only thing I know is real.