Obviously the game is a bit of a false dilemma, since I'm sure we're all mixed. But most people seem to spend the bulk of their time (mentally speaking) either...

1. Living in the past, whether enjoying the glory days or wishing they could undo mistakes.

2. Living in the present, which sounds really good at first blush, but such people can sometimes fail to learn from their past or plan for their future.

3. Living the future, hoping for better days or tirelessly chasing goals, often robbed of contentment.

My vice is #3. I almost can't even recall anything good from my past, and I never feel content with where I'm at. I'm always thinking about what I need to do later tonight or next week or next year.

Mine is #1. I have done (or not done) a number of things I wish I could do differently or outright UNdo, and those failings of conscience, courage, or common sense tend to haunt me.

There are some absurdly minor things on the list (silly stuff like minor social faux pases), and there are some pretty big things (my pre-adult acedemic past comes to mind), there's stuff I admit freely and a few true closet skeletons, but my past dogs me more than my present or future.

Mine is #1 - I tend to be resistant to change, so when it comes, I tend to think about the past rather more than I should, and fail to enjoy the present as much as I could.

I am also often guilty of #3, though this has arguably served me well, for while I have typically not been satisfied with the goals themselves once I have reached them, the process of getting there has often led me to good things that I had not anticipated.

I am absolutely a 2. I try not to lose track of the lessons of the past (emphasis on try), but I don't give it that much thought. And the future will get here eventually, and then it will be the present, and then I'll care. Until it's the past, then it's just whatever.

I just deal with the present or very near future, focused on making my life as it is right now as pleasant as possible.

Mine is #3, but the future is full of death and loss and this colors my present, darkly.

In the past, #3 got me into, and helped me through, graduate school, helped me shape goals, and helped me go unanticipated but interesting places.

However, I have found that I now begin to see it more like the way you describe (though, I think, not quite as dark). While I am only in my late 30s, friends have begun to die of natural causes, I have realized that there is a reasonable (not high, but not insubstantial) chance that I will die while my daughter is a teenager, and I have had to begin giving up possible future goals because of the impracticality of achieving them (for example, I have pretty much given up on the idea of pursuing a PhD).

Still, there are things to look forward to, so I still enjoy future-gazing for the most part.

I am constantly thinking about the future. Especially right now, as my life is in turmoil, and I think - holy crap, what will things be like for me in three years? In five? I also think, am I the type of person my children would look up to? If I go down this path, will I be the type of person I want my children to look up to? Or will they see me as a failure?

The future is on my mind a lot.

I have been horrible about #3 for most of my life. I always felt like I was just waiting for one more thing to be happy. It was like my life was waiting to begin. It could have been a job, a specific pay amount, owning a house, getting married, etc. The point is that there was always something more I wanted. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

I also spend a lot of time in #1. This is both aspects of it. As miserable as my past was there are times I would like to see again. More than that I am filled with things I would want to change.

I spend so much time trying to avoid #2 that I think I am actually doing it by trying to escape from it.

I'm unhappy with my past, have no hope for the future, and find myself struggling to get by today putting up a front that everything is ok. I'm not really sure which category that puts me in.

It's not all doom and gloom. I make myself stop and enjoy special moments, when I have them. It sounds terribly trite, but resting for a few minutes and listening to the breeze blow through the trees on a sunny day or smelling the wet air and listening to the birds call back and forth after a rain are very pleasant to me. Acknowledging these and many other such moments, while in them, helps me cope with the knowledge that, for example, my aging parents will eventually die. I no longer fantasize about owning a Fortune 500 company making powered armor suits for police and fire fighters (something I wrote back when I was 19 and trying to visualize my goals)! But there are things I'd like to do while still able, like visit Italy (we're going this September) and I'd like to see my brother in Shanghai next year.

So even my future isn't all skulls and black lace.

Far too often I think about/dream about/worry about the future. I studied history and love old stuff, but in terms of living my life, I'm always focused on the future, often to the detriment of the present.