Crossing Your Bridge

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." -Soren Kierkegaard

You have probably heard the phrase, "never look back, always keep looking forwards" and wondered what it really means. On the surface I would look at the phrase and think I am to bolt to the future with no regard for the past. Even Thoreau said, "Never look back unless you are planning to go that way."

We can never go back to change the past, nor would we want to.

It is 'forward' in direction that we want to take our life. I also believe that while we are moving forward, we do need to look back in order to understand the person we have become. The past contains the building blocks of what, whom and how we have gotten to where we are currently in life.

If we understand the person we are today will serve as a guide post for who we want to become. We are not dictated by past events, only shaped by them. The future holds endless possibility. So it is important to know who you are by knowing where you have been.

But do not let the past pull you into its grasp. Leave all of that 'stuff' behind you. None of that can be changed now, only learned from.

Just like water which has flowed under the bridge, our past is gone.

You are here today standing on that bridge crossing into another time in your life. You have been given the opportunity to make new choices and changes. This is your bridge that exists between the past and your future.

You cross this bridge every moment of the day getting to decide what is next for your life. The future is on the other side waiting for you to decide.

I say move forward in life having learned from the past, full of expectation for greater things in your life.

Stay inspired my friends.

As Time Goes

"Time goes, you say? Ah no! Alas, Time stays, we go." ~Henry Austin Dobson

Not too long ago my wife and I decided to have breakfast at a local Cracker Barrel restaurant. It was a nice breakfast for two as we were winding down from a busy weekend. As we sat there, I looked at all of the old tools and signs that adorned the walls. Each of them were gentle reminders of times long past.

The various items tend to keep the eyes busy as one waits for their meal to arrive. These items also spark discussion over just what this or that particular tool or item was. You can also reminisce about a sign advertising "Old Virginia Cheroots" cigars wondering where the magic of those times went.

As I looked around, something struck me about the pictures on the walls. There were old pictures of people posing for portraits or family photos. I had to wonder what these people may wonder about their personal photos being displayed in a modern day restaurant. Would they object, would they have ever thought they would end up in a restaurant? Will we object when all of our Facebook pictures are used in the same manner many years from now.

I also began to wonder what the story was behind each of the family photographs. How did each of them come to have their photograph taken, for what occassion and how they ended up lost to a restaurant chain.

I then noticed an old crank phone on one wall under one of the numerous photos.

What if I could pick up that old phone and place a call into the past. Would those people in the photographs answer, would they even want to speak with me once they heard my wild story from the future? If they didn't think I was completely crazy, how wonderful would their story be that they could tell. It would be a story of their life and experience which would fill a book.

The problem is that I can not dial up the past. I can only look at their photographs and wonder. I can imagine what the story of their lives were, growing to an old age and believe that they experienced a great life.

I can also imagine the same for myself.

You can imagine the same for your life.

We can live a great life and end up on a wall as a photograph in some distant future. Those future viewers of our pictures will reveal the same thing, that we lived a wondrous life. Our pictures will reveal to them that life can be great. Our future viewers will feel better about themselves, as you can right here and now.

Believe in and have a great life. Also, stay inspired my friends.

1968 Torino GT

"Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future." -Oscar Wilde

Just yesterday I had the pleasure of a momentary jump back into my past. As I was driving back from the office, there in a parking lot was a 1968 Ford Torino GT. It was very much like the one I owned in high school, so stop to look and admire it became a step back in time to 1977. The sleek lines of the car covered the 325-hp/390-cid engine just waiting underneath the hood, longing to roar down the road.

A four-speed manual transmission with a stick shift waiting for the driver to put it into action. Yes, I had a 1968 Ford Torino GT in high school. No it certainly was not as fast as other muscle cars in its era, but it did make for a few fun rides down the flat highways near Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska.

Every now and then it can be good to look backwards into the past. It reminds us of where we were and helps us rediscover how we got to where we are today. Stay inspired my friends and enjoy the ride!

Believe

""Never look back unless you are planning on going that way."." -Henry David Thoreau

I would imagine you are like most every other human on this planet. You have dreams of being more successful, or earning more money. You have dreams of greatness for your children or renewed health when pain fills every move you make. There are those that hope for love or friendship and those that want for a better life. All of us dream of things during our life time.

The problem can be with the belief we have in that dream. How strongly do you believe in what it is you want for your life? How large is the faith in what is to come versus what has happened? There are many people that want, dream, yearn for all of these things in life. But their belief is more centered on the past as opposed to their future.

A woman may want for a relationship that is filled with love and comfort, but she dwells on past relationships. When she gets close to a man, her belief in something good is outweighed by belief in what has happened previously. The negative things that have happened in her life win out every time with belief in the past.

A man looks to advance in his job, a new promotion and responsibility. He becomes a candidate for a new position but it will require interviews and rising above the competition. Yet if he chooses to believe in his past experience, he condemns his future. He will be his own worst competition to moving forward in life.

All of us tend to give way too much credit for our past mistakes or stumblings. We have life's experience behind us, but life moves forward from where you are today. Life forward from the past, not towards it; it is today that counts. Where you stand, the person that you are right now, this very moment is where you begin.

The past is the past and you need to let it go. You need to reverse your thinking to a forward looking direction. Stop believing in what has gone wrong and believe in what will happen moving forward. Believe in the impossible and make it real.

Start living your life with forward momentum, believing in your future and leaving behind what has gone wrong in the past. What the past says is impossible, tomorrow says it is possible. Tomorrow brings fresh hope, fresh opportunity and fresh belief in that possibility.

Stay inspired my friends and we'll talk again soon.