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By Kola Popson
The past is as good as gone. Nothing can be done to bring back the past; it is far gone. If you want a brighter future, do not dwell too much on your past predicament and mistakes. When you dwell too much on your past, it becomes a burden on you, and prevents you from concentrating on the future. Forget your past predicament my dear reader, and embrace today warmly to pave way for a better tomorrow.
Your past is not as important as your future. Therefore, think more about the future, but think less about the past. You have nothing much to gain from your past aside lessons learnt, but you have so much to hope for in the future. On no account should you allow your past to overshadow your future. Thomas Jefferson supported this when he said, “I like the dreams of the future than the history of the past.” Why would you waste today thinking about yesterday, while today can actually be utilized wisely for the betterment of tomorrow?
It is important to note that too much emphasis on the past aids not the future. It makes one to lose focus of the future; it makes the future to be blurred. John Mason was right when he noted, “Rosy thoughts about the future can’t exist when your mind is full of the blues of the past.” It is advisable that you stop living in the past, if truly you desire a brighter future. Tomorrow and yesterday are far apart.
Indeed, today is an intermediary between yesterday and tomorrow. What you are experiencing today is the outcome of yesterday’s actions and events. On the contrary, tomorrow would be outcome of today’s actions and events. Today offers us the opportunity to learn from our past mistakes and work towards a better tomorrow. For this reason, make today count by working diligently and wisely towards a brighter tomorrow. Remember always that yesterday is gone, and can never be retrieved, while today offers you the opportunity to plan and make tomorrow better.
The difference between the future and the past is that while the former moves you step forward, the latter draws you backward. Stop moving backward in life. Attach less or no importance to the pains and sorrow of the past. Do not live in the past my dear friend. Look vividly ahead of you; in future lies the gain of the pain of the past.
Though the past is gone, its traces and effects are likely to be felt by many. It is quite understandable that the pains and sorrows of the past could be likened to a wound, which might not be totally healed or forgotten. However, too much emphasis on it cannot make any positive difference, but can only complicate things. This is so because each time you dwell about your past predicament, you indirectly make a direct and forceful contact with the wound, and this becomes even more painful to you.
Truthfully, people who live in the past are like people and things that were far gone and dead, and whose memories had totally vanished from the minds of all. On the other hand, people who live for the future are like unborn children that would rise to become world leaders, correct mistakes of the past and then make the world a better place for all. Those unborn children are the hope of the world; people wait eagerly for them to be born. They are already heroes and heroines, even before their birth! It is my hope and desire that you fall under the latter category of people, my dear reader.
An anonymous quote reads thus, “Never look back unless you want to go that way.” It is only on one condition that I advise that you look back. Did you say what condition? Well, you can make a brief look at the past only for today or future purpose(s). And you do this by learning from your past mistakes and making sure that such mistakes do not reoccur in the nearest future. This is the only time you are expected to look back, and you are not likely to be hurt or led backward by the agony of the past.
Finally, always note that the past can affect the future, either positively or negatively. It all depends on how you relate with your past. While regrets, agony and lamentations of the past can mar the future, a brief look at the past on the premise of learning from past mistakes can aid the future. Irrespective of your past or present situation, look vividly into the future with aspiration, hope, and belief that tomorrow will offer you better days.
NB: This is an extract from a book, MAKE IT COUNT (2013), by Kola Popoola.
