The Past Begins Right Now

angelica

Ahnimus wrote:

This is like nails on a chalkboard for me.

Kinda like hippiemom and free-will??

angelica

"Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh


"There is no distance on this earth as far away as yesterday". ~Robert Nathan


"Realize that now, in this moment of time, you are creating. You are creating your next moment. That is what's real." ~ Sara Paddison


"Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead. It is going on all the time. We are in it now." ~ Charlotte Perkins Gilman


"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet." ~ James Oppenheim


"Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed." ~ Corita Kent


"Now is the only time. How we relate to it creates the future. In other words, if we're going to be more cheerful in the future, it's because of our aspiration and exertion to be cheerful in the present. What we do accumulates; the future is the result of what we do right now." ~ Pema Chodron

Ahnimus

angelica wrote:

Kinda like hippiemom and free-will??

I don't remember that convo.

prism

catefrances wrote:

well i tend to agree with that part angelica. HOW we choose to react can define us. but only to a certain extent. but still that reaction is based on our past. tis also based on other factors as well. even WHEN those decisions are made can make a difference. given time to think about a situation one can come up with a different thought or action.

a therapist once told me that based on my past childhood experiances that i should've wound up being a prostitute or a junkie or at the very least an alcoholic. but obviously I didn't react by taking any of those paths, cause like you said I was able to think and reason so that I came up with different thoughs and actions. so while my past has somewhat affected my decisions and can't be erased....I don't let it define me

Ahnimus

prism wrote:

a therapist once told me that based on my past childhood experiances that i should've wound up being a prostitute or a junkie or at the very least an alcoholic. but obviously I didn't react by taking any of those paths, cause like you said I was able to think and reason so that I came up with different thoughs and actions. so while my past has somewhat affected my decisions and can't be erased....I don't let it define me

Therapists have a knack for totally oversimplifying these things. As a matter of fact, so does Angelica.

Take for example this one little process that occurs in the brain millions of times a day.

In the neuron's resting state, both the sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) channels are closed, and the outside of the cell membrane is positively charged with respect to the inside. Hence there is a voltage drop across the membrane. If the membrane is depolarized, sodium ions enter the cell until the cell's polarity is reversed; that is, the inside of the cell is positively charged with respect to the outside. In the repolarization phase, the potassium channel then opens to allow eflux of potasium ions, the sodium gate closes, and sodium ions are actively pumped out of the cell. All of these activities help bring the membrane back to its resting potential. Because the potassium gate does not close as soon as the resting potential is reached, the voltage drop across the membrane briefly drops a little below the resting voltage. Equilibrium is reached once the resting potential is restored.Based on Campbell 1996 (Brain-Wise; Patricia S Churcland | Pg. 15)

This has something to do with your decisions. But explaining that is even more complicated. Anyone who thinks decisions happen because of a simple process is completely ignorant.

catefrances

prism wrote:

a therapist once told me that based on my past childhood experiances that i should've wound up being a prostitute or a junkie or at the very least an alcoholic. but obviously I didn't react by taking any of those paths, cause like you said I was able to think and reason so that I came up with different thoughs and actions. so while my past has somewhat affected my decisions and can't be erased....I don't let it define me

i wonder why your therapist told you that.

perhaps we're defined by the decisions we DON'T make and the paths we DON'T take.

prism

Ahnimus wrote:

Therapists have a knack for totally oversimplifying these things. As a matter of fact, so does Angelica.

Take for example this one little process that occurs in the brain millions of times a day.

In the neuron's resting state, both the sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) channels are closed, and the outside of the cell membrane is positively charged with respect to the inside. Hence there is a voltage drop across the membrane. If the membrane is depolarized, sodium ions enter the cell until the cell's polarity is reversed; that is, the inside of the cell is positively charged with respect to the outside. In the repolarization phase, the potassium channel then opens to allow eflux of potasium ions, the sodium gate closes, and sodium ions are actively pumped out of the cell. All of these activities help bring the membrane back to its resting potential. Because the potassium gate does not close as soon as the resting potential is reached, the voltage drop across the membrane briefly drops a little below the resting voltage. Equilibrium is reached once the resting potential is restored.Based on Campbell 1996 (Brain-Wise; Patricia S Churcland | Pg. 15)

This has something to do with your decisions. But explaining that is even more complicated. Anyone who thinks decisions happen because of a simple process is completely ignorant.

I never claimed that my decisions were made only because of a simple process. the past does have something (though definately not everything) to do with the process of the decisions that I've come to. that doesn't change the fact that my past doesn't define me

prism

catefrances wrote:

i wonder why your therapist told you that.

perhaps we're defined by the decisions we DON'T make and the paths we DON'T take.

you may be right...you make a good point

catefrances

prism wrote:

you may be right...you make a good point

turns out i got a lot of time to think about crap like this these days. i'm generally one for stepping off the cliff and seeing where i end up. turns out when it comes to free will and getting what we want, if someone else is involved in the equation then we have none. of course a little patience never goes astray, so i'm told.