Sitting and writing in my office, I am treated to a few, rare and quiet moments.  The sound of silence bothers some people, but I rather like it.  It allows me to think and listen to my own inner guidance.  Today, I’d like to share some thoughts with you about the past, present, and future.  This thing called life is really quite amazing, especially when you glance in the rear-view mirror.

Sometimes the past is not such an easy place to visit.  Personally, I only go there long enough to learn from or remember the good, and how that good has sculpted me into the human being I turned out to be.  True, you shouldn’t go backwards, but there are times it is necessary for growth.  My mind ventures back to my long-ago, taken there as I sort through decades of my parents’ photographs throughout our lives.  With a smile, I am reminded what a good life I have had and continue to have; though, none of us can claim life was perfect.

This is the past and I wouldn’t trade it,

even if I could turn the clock back. 

It is the foundation of who we are and how we came to be.

Few of us are fortunate enough to love our chosen work, but I live and breathe mine.  Serving others with skills I have accrued through decades of experience, feeling others’ pain and solving estate problems has enabled me to serve, guide, and help people.  As a result, I sleep very well at night.  However, the thought occurred to me that I didn’t get here quickly, and I certainly didn’t get here by myself.  Sometimes we unintentionally take things like this for-granted.

When I go back to where my real journey began as a young adult, I am suddenly reminded of all the kind, giving, creative, helpful, odd, patient, gentle, appreciative, harsh, happy, and sad people who have crossed my path and helped me along the way.  It takes all kinds.  Some were incredible teachers, both good and bad.  Some made me laugh until my ribs hurt.  Some inflicted great pain.  Some taught me what real suffering is, and others taught me how blessed I am.  But all of them were teachers.  We are teachers, too.

We are never alone and never on this journey without purpose.

While we may not necessarily understand what the purpose is, we need to move in a forward motion, lest we get “stuck.”  Each experience seems to be a stepping stone to another place, another direction, and then our purpose(s) may be revealed.  We get to choose that place and direction, and hopefully, we choose wisely.

This is where we are.

The choices we make here in our present

will have an impact on our future and our loved ones’ futures.

We are all connected.

As for the future, it is not yet written.  Like an artist standing in front of a blank canvas, we can (with some luck and strong faith) create something really good.  But, it is unknown and most people find that a little scary.

I don’t know anything about the future, but I do know that, in getting there, we can’t keep looking in the rear-view mirror.  If we do that, we will not move forward and fulfill what we are here to do.

We should use all that we learned in the past, and here in the present, to help create a better future for ourselves, albeit unknown.  We also need to be extraordinary teachers, all of us.

I am reminded of a thought-provoking snippet from a famous quote of Captain James T. Kirk from the original Star Trek series:

 

It has an exciting ring to it, don’t you think?

©2015 The Estate Lady®