Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Have-beens

I don't like talking about my past. I do, all the time. It's a habit and a following of our societal custom of reminiscing.

Talking about our past keeps us there. We exaggerate, we lie. We may not do on purpose, but we do because we remember with feeling and we justify it. For some, constantly going to our past stems from insecurity, doubt and regret. Yet it is only in the present where we are safe, where we can change, where we can find satisfaction. The fear we felt, the frustration, the failures do not exist anymore. Analyzing, discussing, rethinking what has passed will not gain us a better present. In fact, with our mind on the past, we don't think of our present. We can't. We operate mechanically–we breathe, we walk, we drive, we work all on automatic pilot. We don't learn anything new, we don't enjoy anything we do, we don't see things as they are for we are thinking with our past mentality and judging everything from that stance. Our days become long and more of the same because we stay the same.

Even when our past experiences have been great, recalling them constantly prevents us from growing. Our challenge today is to find a balance between remembering the sweet giggle of our children when they were little, the tickling of a first kiss, the sensation of walking our spaces, the thrill of a victory, the lessons learned, the suffering endured, reliving what we have already lived and letting go to be who we are to be today. The dare today is to go from who we have been to who we are.






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