Looking Back To Today

"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained." -Mark Twain

Recently a friend posted a few pictures of our college days on Facebook. He, myself and several other folks spent a couple of years together at Peru State College in Nebraska. A diverse lot of fellows that somehow seemed to put most differences aside and had a really great time.

Seeing the pictures started pulling on my strings of reminiscence. So off to the attic to pull out the worn pages and pictures of days gone by. Let me tell you it was a wonderful journey back in time. It was a view back that made me wonder how I had made it this far. It was also a view that explained exactly how I reached this wonderful point in life.

As I looked through the pages of old newspapers and pictures, I felt the ground beneath my feet. The path I was creating came from mistakes, success, boredom, shear terror and blind boldness. The cobblestones were laid out in front of me with friends and family. The journey was given to me by my faith.

It is easy to look at our life today and wonder if we made the right choices. It becomes easy to doubt what we did. But if you look back at the proving grounds of your past, you may find that life was simply teaching you how to live.

I remember the time shown in the picture above. We were young and ambitious College Student Activity Council kids. One of the hot regional bands was a group called Cricket. They had the greatest sound and energy one could expect and we had them for an early school year performance. An outdoor concert that requires all of the crazy logistics one could imagine. I'm not sure I even got to enjoy it and how a bunch of 19-year old kids pulled it off is beyond me.

So yes, you look back and wonder at how mad we were. But the mystery of whom we are now begins to disappear. We were simply trying to figure out our lives and learning about life along the way. Those experiences have brought us to where we are today. And I am happy for having gone through all of it.

It also excites me for what the next fifty years will bring. What will I look back to and see how the road was built. Will you look back and marvel at your own journey? Of course you will. Once you do, then look forward and envision the road you will take. That road is yours to take.

There is greatness to your life that makes all you have gone through well worth it. There is greatness to come in your life for you to pursue.