There are a number of ways people deal with time and the ideas od past, present and future.  Here are the most common ones:

• The Past Dweller - Common among elderly people who see nothing in there future, or even the present, so they dwell constantly in the past, rehashing and retelling stories of their past or talking about how much better everything was in the past (like the Great Depression and the Berlin Wall for example).
• The Live for Today Crowd - These folks ignore the lessons of the past and don't care about the future.  The attitude is do what you want to do today and don't worry about the consequences like extinction of species, undrinkable water, unbreathable air, etc.
• The Fix it in the Future Type - These folks don't ignore the past and are aware that if they continue as they are, their future and the future of their children will be bleak, but they don't thing they can do anything significant about it today, so they just wait for future solutions to arrive.  This attitude is common in places where people believe in reincarnation.  They know that there current life is not good, but shrug it off thinking that the next one will be better, or the one after that.  Of course, the problem with that attitude is, even if reincarnation is real, how do you know your current life isn't your last chance?  In the west, this attitude is also common among the "techies" who think that technological progress will solve all problems despite a total lack of evidence that technology solves life's problems - it just makes it easier to hide from them.

The best way to look at time, especially for those who are developing their spiritual side, is to remember the lessons of the past without dwelling there, thinking about and planning for the future, and acting in the present , the only time we can act in, to get the future we want.  That is the only way it will happen.