Present and Future

I just wrote the following on facebook:

Gratitude practice is something Buddhists do. I'm working on setting up a practice with a Buddhist friend. I live by to-do lists, which is a way of focusing on the future and forgetting about the present. Better to live in the present and say, "Ah, yes!"

After I wrote I realized this was an actual insight. To-do lists keep me focused on the future, and I do live by to-do lists. I wonder what I can do with the insight. Maybe keep another list -- a gratitude list -- of what's happening in the present.

I would hate to give up all lists.

A second insight might be: my love of science fiction also keeps me thinking about the future.

A third insight might be: it's not entirely bad to think about the future. That's where the consequences of our current actions will happen.

There must be a way to balance present and future.