Future / Past

If I were to actually think about it, which I don't tend to, I think I would be disconcerted to contemplate the fact that I may not have a future at all. We all know we are going to die. We don't have a clue where, when or how. We just know it will happen & hope that it will be quick & as painless as possible.

Similarly I do know I have a past. My memory of it is very variable & subjective. But I know I've lived it for 73 years. I'm always amazed at what other people can remember about my past. Have I blotted it out? Was I not taking enough notice? Was I too busy contemplating what I was going to do next, rather than what I was doing? Whatever the reason, there is a lot I can't remember. The thing is it's gone. Either I learned from it, (good), or I didn't, (too late now).

 

I am what I am. I am the sum total of all my experience, good & bad, remembered & not. Personally I find people who are always harking back to the past very draining. I can't really see the point. Why would anyone be that interested in someone else's past? The only past I wish we referred to more is the lessons History teaches us - Governments please note.

"Memory - the priestess, kills the present & offers it's heart to the shrine of the dead past"  Rabindranath Tagore.

I can think, I can try to change both myself & influence others. (The latter is probably a forlorn hope). I can really only be responsible for myself, what I say & what I do.

I'd rather be walking forward in hope, than walking backwards, regretting something that's gone. Forever.