Man has made an obsession with time. Time has been broken into centuries, decades, seconds and milliseconds, so that everything happens on a schedule, at a specific time. Thus, it seems that we humans have our lives all under control. Yet, too often, we focus extensively on what needs to be done, to the extent that we forget to live those moments while they are happening. Many of us have a tendency of over thinking our past and focusing on our future without noticing that we are missing out on our present. The minutes may pass by without us taking the time to cherish them. Let’s examine how to stop worrying about the future, avoid dwelling on the past and focus on the present. In his book, “The Timekeeper”, Mitch Albom tells us about the story of the inventor of time who gets punished for trying to measure the greatest gift of all. To be forgiven, he has a special mission to teach two individuals about the true meaning of time. Albom discusses our constant calculations of time and our hunger for more of it. “ Man alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hours. And because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out.” (Albom 30). We need to slow down and realize that we have only two options when an opportunity arises, which are to “grab a moment, or [...] let it pass.” (Albom 262). Too often we pick the wrong choice, not necessarily because we think it is the better one but rather because we don’t notice that we do so. We let the moments slip out of our hands because our minds are preoccupied with what we should do next. Stressing out about the future can often lead us to premature decisions. We might make up scenarios in our minds and imagine potential situations that could cause unfortunate results like the one of Vicomte in “The Coward” from Maupassant. Vicomte decides to fight in a duel with a man he barely met, but as reality sinks in, and the time to fight approaches, panic overcomes him. He is overwhelmed and for the first time he regrets his original decision. “What a fool he was to let himself succumb to fear before anything was decided--before his seconds had interviewed those of Georges Lamil, before he even knew whether he would have to fight or not!” (Maupassant 2). He grows so anxious that he ends up committing suicide. If only he had not tried to anticipate the future, he might had got a chance in the fight. As much as focusing on the future can be harmful, residing in the past can be as unhealthy. People usually dwell in their past to escape the reality. They either wish for those gone days to be back, or regret them and wish they never existed. Miniver, in “Miniver Cheevy” by Robinson is one of those people that feels that he was “born too late”(Robinson 29), he longs the vanished days and “love[s] the days of old” (Robinson 5). Whatever happens in the past cannot be changed and weeping over it won’t do any help. The only time we have