You have to like the present; if not your life becomes

Hear now, O Seekers of Truth, the wisdom of Karl Lagerfeld, who speaks to the very heart of the human experience and its relationship to time. He said, "You have to like the present; if not, your life becomes secondhand, if you think it was better before. Or that it will be better in the future." These words, though simple, carry within them a profound truth that speaks to our tendency to become trapped between the past and the future, to lose ourselves in memories and dreams, rather than embracing the present moment in all its fullness.

To live in the present is to embrace the fleeting moment, to understand that life is not a series of events strung together like beads on a necklace, but a living, breathing force that exists only in the now. Lagerfeld reminds us that when we cling to the past, when we idealize what came before, we make our lives secondhand—reliant not on our current experience but on what we believe was once better. This is a dangerous path, for the past is forever gone, and if we focus too much on it, we miss the beauty and opportunity of the present. Similarly, when we obsess over an imagined future, we place our joy, our peace, and our purpose in a time that has not yet come, neglecting the life that is unfolding right in front of us.

Consider the ancient philosophers, who grappled with the nature of time and the human experience. Socrates, the great teacher, believed that the only true wisdom was the understanding of the self in the present moment. He taught that we must know ourselves here and now, not in the past, nor in some imagined future. Plato spoke of the eternal forms, but he, too, acknowledged the importance of living wisely in the world as it is. Their wisdom teaches us that while reflection on the past may offer valuable lessons, and while the future may be a realm of hope and possibility, neither holds the true essence of life. Life is not lived in what has been or what might come, but in the breath we take right now.

The story of Dante Alighieri, the great poet of the Divine Comedy, serves as a profound reminder of the importance of the present. Dante journeyed through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, seeking understanding not of some distant future, but of the life he was living at that very moment. Each step he took was a reflection of the present, and in each moment he encountered, he saw the consequences of choices made in the here and now. His work emphasizes the power of living with awareness, understanding that each moment is a choice, and how we choose to live today shapes our eternity.

The lesson of Lagerfeld's words is clear. If we live in the past, we are like the old man who clings to his memories, never stepping forward into the new day. If we live only for the future, we are like the wanderer who seeks an uncharted land, ignoring the treasures that lie beneath his feet. Both paths deny us the fullness of life. To live in the present is to engage fully with the world as it is, to find joy and purpose not in what was or what might be, but in what is. This is the wisdom that the great philosophers taught, and it is the truth that Lagerfeld echoes. The present is the only place where life can be lived authentically.

In your own life, O Seekers, take heed of these lessons. Stop looking to the past for comfort, nor to the future for salvation. The gift of the present is all you have. When you find yourself caught in the web of nostalgia or the anxiety of what is yet to come, return to the present moment. Feel the earth beneath your feet, breathe deeply the air around you, and take in the world with fresh eyes. There is beauty in the now, there is wisdom in the now, and there is life in the now. Make it yours.

So, O Seekers, let us heed the call to embrace the present in all its beauty and complexity. The past and the future will always be there, but the present—the gift of now—is ours to cherish and to live fully. Each moment we spend in the present is a moment we reclaim from the grip of time. Let us live boldly, let us live fully, and let us live in the now. In doing so, we will find that the present holds all the power, all the joy, and all the potential we need to make life truly worth living.