When asked if we could have any super power, many answers range from being able to fly to being invisible. The most prominent answer though? Being able to control time. No longer do we want to live in the present, but instead alter time so we can pass the bad and move toward the good. In doing so though, we miss out on moments that mold who we are.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll understand my anxious attitude toward things. I am a planner, meaning that I like to have my future plans mapped out on a schedule so I know exactly how my days will go. When I’m not planning, I’m often reflecting on what happened in the past-- sometimes causing feelings of regret, but also nostalgia over the happy moments. Throughout my day though, I have realized I am not so much living in the now, but in moments that have passed or are yet to come to distract myself from the present day in times of sadness or distress. This needed to change

I came to realize that my daily thoughts that weren’t directed towards living in the moment have caused me more built up stress and anxiety over little things that didn’t deserve such feelings. As said by Eckart Tolle, “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 cause by too much past, and not enough presence.”

The present is the most important because it is the only definite thing. Everything important happens in the present—meeting new people, making choices, and enjoying all that life has to offer in the moment. What I came to realize is that we must not try to mask the presence with thoughts of the past or future, but rather appreciate where we are.

My epiphany came when I thought of life as a book. It's filled with chapters that are the landmarks in life. Each chapter is different--some have good times, bad times, stressful times, and events that you'll remember forever. The characters in each book represent your friends, enemies, family, and the ones you love, but sometimes they don't always make it until the end.

The problem with people is that everyone wants to skip to the end. They want to know how things turn out, and by doing so they pass over the most important things in life in blink of an eye. The thing we all know is that there's not always a happy ending, but we need to realize that one bad chapter doesn't mean it's the end of the book. It just means to keep reading--keep living. Things can change in a flip of a page.

With every flip of a page, there are new words, new details. Perhaps the most important part of the book, the most descriptive words that set the tone of the story and the personalities of the people, are the things that people skip over the most.

Some stories end short, some don't even begin. And like everyone, every story is different. We must never go back to the beginning or else we will never move ahead. We must never skip ahead or we will ruin the book. All we have left to do is be in the present.