To wit, from the Internet: “Dear Optimist, pessimist and realist, while you guys were busy arguing
about the glass of water, I drank it! Sincerely, The Opportunist.”
Similarly, if we focus too much on the past, we forget to
live in the present. Likewise, we lose sight of the present if we focus too
much on the future. And of course, the
present means so much more when we live it with open appreciation of what has
come before to make the present possible, and what jewels of anticipation today
holds for the unfolding of tomorrow.
How often do we forget these parts of our lives? And in the
forgetting deny ourselves the appreciation of dimensions that make our efforts
worthwhile in the first place? There are always other dimensions vying for our
attention. And that’s OK as long as our attention doesn’t obstruct our view of
the other component dimensions. It is the altogether
the means the most, not the pieces of it.
It is easy to focus on just the past. We do homage to it to
learn the nuggets of principle earned and struggled over. Our history is the
story of survival and struggle and hopes and dreams. Succeeding is not always
success. Succeeding at its base is survival. Success if much more; a principle
and dream lived to the fullest and finding fulfillment.
We learn much from history. But care must be taken to
discern cause/effect/result accurately. Those are not always a snap to see, to
fully understand. We have to work at that. Even years after a key event, we
gain a growing understanding of it. It takes time to appreciate what happened,
why it happened, and what came later as a direct result.
Yes, past is important. It just isn’t everything. If it
were, we would probably have difficulty working for the future. Our attention
and time would be overly invested in the past. It’s one thing to know and
understand the past. It is another to use it. Use it. Take a moment and think
about that.
Using the past. Not accepting it blindly as good and
perfect. It isn’t and wasn’t. History is filled with good intentions and a lot
of mistakes. Life back then could have been lived better, or at least
differently, with completely different results.
No, understanding the past is a good educator for planning
and preparing for the future. These are the tasks we are assigned and best we
do them as well as possible. It takes work to do this well. It takes a sense of
urgency and of patience. It requires a broad understanding of what has happened
in the past to guide us well into the future. It takes time and patience to
prepare.
But not too much time. If we are working hard on the past
and the future, will we take the time to live fully in the present? Will we understand the now? Will we stop long
enough to smell the coffee we are drinking, or the aroma of roses we are
planting and pruning? What about the fresh mown lawn; are we seeing it,
smelling it, feeling it, and appreciating its many shades of green? Do we allow
it to have an impact on our life in this moment?
I’m sure you have encountered people hell bent on preserving
the past and its lessons. They preach the past as though we are not paying
attention or don’t get it! They press their history lessons on us as though we
will repeat mistakes and waste the past. They see the past as all powerful.
More than a little out of balance.
You see also those who are most concerned for the future.
“If we don’t do….., we will surely experience the failure of….” You know what
I’m saying here. They are wrapped up in something that hasn’t happened yet, and
maybe won’t unless circumstances exactly follow their cause/effect/result
scenario they have etched in their mind. We need to get ready. We need to
prepare. We must do….! A little frantic, eh?
The present is a gift. We need to understand how to value it
and enjoy it. If not, the past and future will both be wasted. Too much of
either three will lead to impotence in one or the other of the remaining.
It’s worth thinking about. Appreciate the past; learn from
it. Appreciate the now; experience the reward of living. Prepare for the future
with an understanding of both the past and the present. Balance. Logic. Dreams.
May you have all three in order to appreciate the past, present and future.
April 9, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment