Being present in the present

A word from a present-day sage, Brennan Manning...
"The music of what is happening can be heard only in the present moment, right now, right here. Now/here spells nowhere. To be fully present to whoever or whatever is immediately before us is to pitch a tent in the wilderness of Nowhere. It is an act of radical trust--trust that God can be encountered at no other time and in no other place than the present moment. Being fully present in the now is perhaps the premier skill of the spiritual life.
More often than not, I do not hear the music of what is happening now because my mind ricochets between the past and the future."
(quoted from Ruthless Trust)

To be fully alive is to be fully present in the present. Amazing, how much i focus on the past and have anxiety toward the future. In doing so, I miss out on the moments before me. I miss out on opportunities to receive compassion and extend compassion. Manning says that the primary fruit of living in the present is compassion. Wow, what a strong word. Present-tense living gives me the perspective to extend compassion to myself and then to others.

So, today I face a choice. Past-tense. Future-tense. Present-tense. What tense will my life speak in today?