"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." – Buddha

Here is a thought experiment.  It has been proposed in some form before but I wish to examine it in an extreme.  And although it seems to be completely unrealistic, there are schools of philosophical thought where this situation can exist…namely skeptics and the like.  Descartes questioned everything to the point where he could only be sure of one thing; thoughts exist.  Whether there is a computer screen in front of you right now can never be proven.  The very existence of a real sensory world, while likely it does exist, can never be proven.  Descartes concluded that the only things that must exist, as I stated before, are thoughts.  And if there are thoughts, there must be a thinker.  Since he is experiencing the thoughts, he must be the thinker that exists too.  "Cogito ergo sum" or "I think therefore I am," this means, not that thoughts validate existence or cause it in anyway but, that thoughts prove the individual existence.  The only thing for certain is that I exist.  Taken further, the only thing that exists for certain is the thinker now.  The past and a future are not certain either.  If the real world is an illusion, so to are the past and the future.  The experiment is a logical extension of this line of thought in regards to the implications in personal life.  The experiment requires that you actually consider it as a real possibility and devote some level of thought to it.

If you had suddenly come into existence this morning, as fully developed as your current state, and knew your existence would end in exactly 24 hours; how would you spend your one day of life?  Your knowledge of facts and logic are still intact; your preferences, your likes and dislikes, are exactly the same.  But you have no past, no memories of people or personal events; they never happened.  The future, for you, only extends to the next sunrise; there is no heaven or hell, no reincarnation, no karma, and no long term consequences.  How would you make your single day worth it?

Who would you spend it with?  Remember there are no personal bonds from the past.  No obligations.  No nostalgia.  Neither duty nor debt.  No guilt for old friendships.  You will gain nothing long term from anyone.  No marriage.  No fear of rejection.  No fear of abandonment.  There is only the enjoyment of present company.  Who do you enjoy now?  Whose conversation makes you happy?  Whose presence comforts you?  To put it bluntly, who is really worth a damn and who is not?  Or you could just spend it by yourself.

What activities would you occupy this short time with?  What do you enjoy doing for its own sake?  There will be no paycheck at the end of the week.  No savings account.  No retirement plan to fret about.  No one cares about what you are doing.  You will disappoint no one; there are no expectations not to live up to.  Will you sleep as much as possible?  Ingest alcohol and drugs?  Watch TV?  Sit on the beach?  Go shopping (you were brought into existence with a credit card and will not be around for the bill, I forgot to mention that)?  Go hiking?  Paint?  Write?  Make love?  What makes you truly happy?

Where would you go?  Where would you spend this one day?  The location is entirely up to you.  No family ties or significant others to worry about.  Only the location itself.  Where is your Eden?

These are some of the questions.  Assuming that the past is just the ghost of reality, how much of your existence is spent wrestling with a collection of phantoms?  How much of your life is a compromise with memories of people and places?  The future is not guaranteed to anyone.  Tomorrow is not inevitable.  Tomorrow will only come to a few.  Why spend an entire lifetime solely for a distant future?

If, when considering these questions, your heart sinks in your chest or your eyes start to well up, it is likely that your reality is removed from the hypothetical reality you have imagined.  Odds are today is not your perfect day.  We have ties to the past that are fetters to your present happiness; we have ties to the future that act the same way.  But are you working for that perfect?  Is today making that day a possibility?  If not, where are you going wrong?