There are three things in life that we have no control of – nature, the past and other people. Things can always go wrong. We blame nature for the rain that gets us wet; we resent the past when we were not nurtured or did not try hard enough; we hate other people for not supporting us or not giving us the break.
But none of those reactions will make things right; in fact, they can make matters worse instead. Again, we can never control nature, the past and other people. If we want a good experience of life, we must learn to control our own thoughts and actions.
We need to come to terms with the fact that we can only live in the present. And we need to understand that people may not always behave or events may not always unfold according to our wishes. That is the way life goes.
Also, we must consider that life is not always fair. We may work so hard and only get too little returns for our efforts. At work, we may find ourselves under the rule of a pure beginner or someone of much inferior competence, but who treats us in a high-handed way; we might sigh and murmur, “Foolish greenhorn! He has not even come half of where I’d been.”
Past achievements do not really matter. Although, many times we’d come upon somebody that had made one major triumph in his life, who makes a big story about it, then adds an interesting twist to it, and then adds some more. In the process, the feat becomes so embellished with extras so that the whole story ends up becoming fiction. When one tries to live in yesterday’s glory, he’s bound to destroy it.
Some people show an occasional outburst of brilliance, while others can be depended upon to give their best day after day. The moment a single brilliant deed gets into our head and we begin to believe that it’s enough to keep us shining for a long time to come, the idea will corrode us and we will begin to rust.
Many spouses complain that their partners have ceased to love them. “Oh, how she loved me before, why does she not love me as much now?” is a question often asked in desperation. Perhaps the complaining party himself has ceased to be lovable. If we want to be loved today, we must be lovable today. Yesterday’s love had been spent and enjoyed; tomorrow’s love is not yet here.
Some say we must not forget the past, that even past failures have valuable lessons. Fine. But it is certainly unwise to break our backs carrying past burdens when we can actually let go of them. What we might better do with the past is to learn from it and move on.
There’s no doubt that past achievements have their weight, as well; precisely why we should put them behind us, too. Let’s be glad for yesterday’s achievements, okay; but not feed our mind, our pride, our self-image upon them. That would be like serving ourselves yesterday’s meals.
Today’s sunlight comes from today’s sun. It’s a great life where there’s no dark past to haunt us, no past victories to intoxicate us, and no uncertain future to dread. No matter where we’re coming from, we can bask in the cleansing sunlight and be renewed every day.
It’s not fair to ourselves to be held back by past mistakes or is it right to grow conceited by past triumphs. Each new sunrise brings both a new hope and a new challenge. Life only happens in the present.