live and let die

there are two things that we all share. the first: a past. it is impossible to escape, there are inevitable nights, events, tests, and people that are behind us. These need not be regrets, only our pasts. I have always been a strong believer in the necessity to learn from every bit of life surrounding us, but what about that which is not surrounding us. From an early age we begin to hear that we learn from our mistakes, we learn from our successes, we learn from every action. As we all nod our heads in agreement, we have to begin to think... sure... we learn from them... but are we really taking it to heart? Some of us live in the past, others forget the past almost as immediately as it is gone. Neither of these methods are healthy by any standard. The best thing that we can do is recognize our past... validate it, if you will. The past happened, and we can't change that, we can recognize it, accept it, and try to learn from it.

this brings be to the second of the two things we all share: a future. yeah, yeah, it sounds corny, but its true. While the past is behind us, the future is always ahead. It is the one thing we are in control of. we can manipulate it to be whatever it is that we want it to be. Without sounding too much like a motivational speaker, i ask you to take this to heart.

I am guilty of mistakes, i refuse to let them be regrets, but mistakes i will confess to. I am guilty of cycles in my past-- falling into the same pithole a thousand times even though I may be more than very aware of its presence. But i can't do anything about my past. I have good memories pureed with memories i only dream of forgetting. The truth is, i need to take my own advice and realize that it is called the past for a reason. its over and done with. While dwelling on the 30 seconds that made us happiest previously, we may be missing the 30 seconds we're in... and maybe that is the true best 30 seconds of your life. We have to focus on what we can bring to be. When we learn to drive, we are taught to always look at least a few seconds ahead. We are taught not to ignore the mirror surrounding us, but to use them to glance into what is behind us, and to use them to better understand our immediate surroundings.

I will always respect the past and make my best attempts to use it to my advantage--to best understand my viewpoint and positioning in the universe, but i'm going to try my hardest to leap over my pithole, and keep my head up looking at whats in front of me, not at what i just left behind.

eventually we all gotta learn to live and let die.