Distinguishing whether we are in the here and now or somewhere else can be quite confusing.

Walking on a golf course, one may be busy with one’s game and assume that one is present. However, it is usually a very subtle detail that keeps us in the past or projects us into the future.

Whenever we find ourselves thinking about the last shot, we are actually in the past. Being busy thinking about what happened there, what one can learn from it, and why it happened as it did, is a way to stay in the past instead of letting go of what just happened to focus on what one is doing in the moment.

We’ll drift into the future whenever we become concerned with the result. May it be how others perform, impacting our position on the ranking, or how this shot will be something we can share with others. Instead of staying with the shot we are creating, we find ourselves imagining how we’ll feel once the game is over.

This naturally isn’t limited to the golf course.