Lessons From The Past

I learned a lesson the other day about the importance of memories.  I’ve tended to be the kind of individual who lives with an eye for the present and near future.  While I have always enjoyed listening to people’s stories about their pasts, what has bothered me is when I see those who are always  talking about the past.  These folks look to live their current lives through their past.  I think that personal history, especially younger days when responsibilities were at a minimum, give folks a sense of security.  Living in the past tends to be a safe route to go because you already know how it turned out!

The positive lesson that I received came during a phone call with my mother during the holidays.  She was telling me about a conversation that she had just completed with a close high school friend who still lives on the east coast.  My mother, who is now in her eighties, married my dad in New York after WWII, and within a few years moved to California, where my dad was from.  In the move, she left all of her family and friends and began a new adventure in life with my dad and my newly born older sister.  While it was quite a shock to adjust to her new life, in a new state, without her family and friends, adjust she did, and within a seemingly short amount of time, our family grew to include my older brother and myself.  During those years my mom’s folks had retired and eventually moved to California, along with her older sister, her husband and family. By then, my mom was well established and home out here, but it was the memories of the many special family times during her childhood, activities in high school, and the adventures of  her first job in New York city that kept her going during the initial years of trials and tribulations after the move.

During our phone conversation, my mother joyfully related to me the many memories she and her friend reminisced about concerning their singing and dancing days in high school.  If I am not mistaken, one of them was voted the best dancer and the other the best singer of their high school class!  Those memories gave my mom a foundation for who she has been all the years of my life.  She has always been a strong, self confident and out going women.  The happy times and accomplishments of her past helped her to step up and succeed whenever times got tough and situations looked bleak.  This, to me, is a very positive way to incorporate your past life’s events into who you are today.  While some have never gone beyond their accomplishments of the past, she used the past to propel her through into the present.  And at eighty plus years, she may have slowed down a little, but she is still the happiest and most positive thinking individual I know!

So… don’t look to me to dish anyone’s memories.  I just encourage each of you to enjoy today, think fondly of the past, and look to combine who you have been, with who God has designed you to be in the years to come!  Stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What are you expecting today?”