The parent said > My past self doesn’t own me. My past self is gone. > My future self is a thing that doesn’t exist. > My present self is all the matters. T

The parent said > My past self doesn’t own me. My past self is gone. > My future self is a thing that doesn’t exist. > My present self is all the matters. This is just a description of how it is. Your past self is gone. It only lives in your memory now. Your future self doesn't exist yet. It lives in your imagination now. Therefore, your present self has to be the only thing that matters. The others do not exist and many people would argue that your present self is also just an imagination. This doesn't take anything away from betterment and personal development. It just puts it where it belongs, which is now. It might not look so, but there is a stark difference between approaching this with the idea that "if I do X, everything will be fine in the future" vs. "I will try doing X to reach goal Y and re-evaluate when I am there, but I am always capable of accepting the now regardless of the outcome". > My story about my identity is intended to freeze it where it is. That’s not a bug. That’s called staying alive. I don't know what the OP wanted to indicate with that. I am not sure I fully grasp the intention behind it. For what it's worth, as I interpret these lines, I don't fully agree with them.