All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present.

Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry—all forms of fear—are caused by too much future and not enough presence.

Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.

— Eckert Tolle

There is enough information packed into this quote for me to stop right here, drop the mike and walk offstage. I must have read and re-read it 10 times to process it fully.

I find myself travelling through time without even realizing it. It manifests itself in the discomfort of anxiety when I am travelling into the future—worrying about things that will never happen—while I watch it drain the joy from anything that’s happening in the present.

Or, I travel through time to visit the regret of things that have happened in the past which I can do nothing to change, while ignoring what I could change for the better in the present.

The best that I can do with this kind of time-travel is to become aware of it as early as possible. This helps me to snap out of it and be present to the blessings and joys that are all around me or in a worst-case scenario, affect change in the present and move to a better place that will serve me. I have stopped kidding myself that I can avoid this time-travel, and I have embraced the fact that I can control and minimize the amount of time that I spend in these most uncomfortable places. The contrast is exhilarating!