In life, we have two (2) options; either we fight the past, or we make friends with each and every upcoming moment we’re given. I can’t see any other choices. If we choose to fight our past and berate ourselves for everything we regret (and we all have done things we regret), we will waste emotion and energy that would be better spent on building a relationship with healthy life. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t spend some time reflecting on our past as a way to learn. We should look back at lessons learned and use both our mistakes and our successes to inform our future choices. However, we should not, in my opinion, allow “bad” things we’ve done to define our upcoming path.
Whether we want to recognize it or not, tomorrow is the sum result of our today’s choices. For example, I can easily choose to look back on my several failures and lament each and every one. But in doing so, when I wake up tomorrow morning (if it’s God’s Will that I do wake up), I will have to start building all over again. If, rather, I do something today that will carry something that I’m doing forward, and then I should try to do that thing. To illustrate, I’ve written and published three (3) books. However, two out of three sold marginally. My newest book, Journey to Aztlan, will only sell as many copies as I’m willing to push. Therefore, each day, I do at least one thing that may help sell a copy or two (or a thousand).
When I’m actively writing a book or a play or a story, I force myself to sit my aging butt in a chair and write. When I’ve gotten a draft, I revise until I feel that the piece is ready to share. I do these things regardless of the crappy things life may bring my way. It’s not that I’m more disciplined than anyone else, it’s more that I believe that I am racing death to accomplish goals that I have for my life. I believe and often say that, though we’re all gonna die, it only matters how we live. We can choose to live fighting the ghosts of our past, or we can choose to make friends with each and every upcoming moment we’re given. I know what I choose to do because for me, life can be a gorilla that slams me around until I just can’t get up. If I lament all the times I’ve landed face first, I’ll never write another word or teach another class or hug my wife or guide my son. I just don’t think I have much time or energy to waste. I really don’t think anyone does.
