Three Branches of an Individual Life's Government

    The theme of three branches of government arises in a multiplicity of places throughout the world and history. The Church of Latter Day Saints holds that the constitution of the United States is a divinely inspired document, and thus its three branches of government were ordained by God Himself. Most Christians do not hold that Mormon belief, but the Bible does seem to indicate God's government as having the same three branches as the U.S. government:

    "The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king." - Isaiah 33:22.

    Even Islamic societies, which were formerly known for their dichotomous government (sultan and ulama), today acknowledge and practice three branches of government.

    I have before proposed that humans are triune in nature, but I do not believe the human triumvirate acts as the governing body over an individual's life. I rather see the trine of time as the source of personal government - or rather, the iterated being in all three places of time.

    The human individual's government is laid out thusly:

1. Judicial branch: past self
2. Executive branch: present self
3. Legislative branch: future self

    Some would probably contend that the legislative and judicial branches are reversed: that the future self is what judges its antecedent, and the past self lays out the groundwork and rules. I believe that is a misconception of each. Regarding the future, what people are confounding is the fact that their present self constantly judges their past self. As far as the past, I need only affirm that the former self is too naive to articulate the rules of life.

1. Concerning the judicial branch, I am contending that, in the proper order of things, the past self judges the entirety of the being. Youth is known for idealism. The mind is less encumbered with details of technicality and more possessed by the spirit of rightness. As we age, we tend to use technicalities and sophisticated reasoning to excuse what we used to condemn. Thus, almost every human becomes self-righteous through artful lawyering. What would have kept the majority of us on the strait and narrow, so to speak, is accountability to our former self's ideals. When we know our younger self would not approve of what we've become, we have erred. That iteration of our being is the safest to trust because, being the most innocent, it judges purest.
2. With respect to the executive branch, the present self is what chooses everything about what you do. The present self is the avatar of action. The future and past have no relationship with action. That is why your current self is the executor of your life.
3. In regards to the legislative branch, it is incumbent upon us to meditate so intensely on what our older self's reflective viewpoints will be that it is as if our future self is our own personal sage and guide, teaching us the principles that would keep us out of the metaphorical mire. The future provides the proper perspective which legislates optimal action.

    Each of these iterative bodies becomes politically corrupt when it takes on the tasks of the other. The past self that legislates for the future sets up parameters for a world that should be - not the world that is. The present self that acts as judge of the past constantly lives in regret and sacrifices the capacity to maximize potential. The future self that executes decisions for the present isn't actually real because the landscape of the future is always shifting contingently on the present - so the choices made are for a reality that is likely not to end up occurring.

    Every time a person makes shipwreck of their life, it is due to a delinquency, a transposition, or a wresting of these governing branches.