Going forward…Looking back
Life lived in the rearview mirror
‘learn from the past don’t live in your past’
don’t make your past your prison your memories a jail keeper
‘your mistakes were a lesson not a life sentence
meant to guide you not define you
a man’s past does not need to fix his future’
We may plan and prepare for the future, but we will never live it. Only when tomorrow becomes today do we experience it. Even what we call the present most accurately defined as living in the moment is the past in disguise everything we experience in life delayed by a fraction of a second. Time folds back on itself, and we are cast into rolls unique to the time, not to the ages. There is nothing new under the sun or its shadow of influence and jurisdiction. Our suns influence extends to the far reaches of the Milky Way, but there is endless space and multiple universes with their own sun with vast new experiences to explore. On earth what is has been and what will be only a rerun, an old song being covered by a new artist. It does seem we are doomed to relive the past, poor learners of the lessons it would teach us. A cowboy is told to watch his back, even circling round to check his trail for possible dry gulchers and back shooters always looking ahead for potential places of ambush. Hindsight is just well crafted foresight offering you the best view going forward. Historians, painters on paper, give us their biased perception of the past, a version seen through their own set of rose colored glasses, a portrait far from objective, an account long after the time of the actual event, a mirror of themselves and the present culture, while they eviscerate your history and heritage. ‘A lie told once is still a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth’. Truth is not flattered by your belief in it or dismayed by your denial. It is not at the whim of passing fantasies or rejection. Deception and misdirection, prejudice with a purpose, all the various voices in collusion seek to blind by darkness, your eyes seeking to adapt. But blinded by brilliant light you are forced to turn away, the pain too great for that kind of exposure.
Our past is a powerful ally, teaching us the consequences of our own actions as well the wisdom gained by the experiences of others. Much is gained by observation and wise council. Those who say forget the past speak only of their fear and failure. Afraid to face them, they run. No behind, no ahead. You cannot escape the past. The past lives forever. It is your present and future. Without the past you will cease to exist. This is far greater than your little myopic world and your unflattering existence, with all your faults, failures and excuses. Can’t blame this on the past. Don’t make it the repository for all your regrets and failures like trash that needs to be discarded. This is about the glorious past, present, and future, the encompassing infinite, not locked into concepts of time. Wherever they exist outside of time they exist as one, resident at creations beginning the foundation of the world.
We must reexamine what we mean by the past. At once it is you, not you, and more than you. You must make the distinction between your past, up close and personal, and the past dwelling outside of time and eternal, all inclusive. Your past is being redefined daily, a rudderless ship cast upon a turbulent sea. Having lost its moorings, adrift and afloat. Who forbade the madness of the prophet? Who is at the helm? Who and what do you choose to believe? We may not have walked this way before, but others have. Disdain the past and you will despise the future. Don’t erase the past because it isn’t chic, fitting into the present culture. Go forward with right choices and actions the best apology for the mistakes of the past, yours and the world. If you embrace the past you will not fear the future.
‘LIfe is understood backwards but lived forwards’
‘The distinction of past, present, and future is only an illusion…however persistent’