Guest guest Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 My dearest friends and Siblings, Many times, people remember people and places and events of the past with great emotion. We cherish photographs of people who died many years ago. We keep small momentos reminding us of major events in our lives: our weddings, our first glimpses of our new homes, acts of kindness that moved our hearts. I know several adults who still retain toys that they played with as children. All represent fond memories of joyous and loving occasions. The same is very often true of events and people who represent painful experiences. Some widows never recover from the deaths of their spouses. Queen Victoria, for example, wore black mourning clothes 40 years after the death of her husband. I know divorced people who write angry poems about former spouses whom they have not seen in years. I have met elderly people who will not talk to their own siblings because of things that the siblings said 50 or 60 or 70 years earlier. It is good and proper to remember the past. It is well to remember people who have loved us in the past because it reminds us of how wonderful love can be. It is good to remember joyous events in our lives because such memories lift our spirits and help us be happier today. But merely remembering such people and events of the past is not enough. Remembering loved ones of the past is useless unless we turn and find new people to love in the present. Remembering happy events of the past means nothing unless we find or create new joyous occasions in the present. It is also necessary to remember unpleasant experiences of the past. We will remember such events whether we want to or not. Our hearts will not allow us to forget. But this is not entirely negative. Wisdom and growth come from such experiences. We can analyse our mistakes in such situations and vow never to repeat them. We can remember the anger and frustration that we felt in unpleasant circumstances that seem so trivial years later. We can resolve not to treat others the way that we have been mistreated. In both the cases of positive and negative memories, the important thing is that we must not allow the past to rule the present. We cannot allow past experiences to become more important than what is happening today. We have no influence over the past. We cannot change anything about it, neither for good nor for ill. But we can influence the present. We have a choice in what we do today. We can love or hate. We can be kind or cruel to our neighbors. We can in our hearts by joyous or miserable. The mistake that many people make is in saying that because they were miserable in the past, they must also be miserable today. We can learn from our past experiences how to love, how to be kind, and how to be joyous. That is the true value of the past. Usha ===== Sister Usha Devi Founder, Divinely Female and worshipper of the Sacred Flame that shines inside every woman Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes./signingbonus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 Thank you Sister Usha for that wonderful message. Just some personal thoughts of mine. Can we actually call it a mistake? What would we consider a mistake? In my opinion at that particular period in time given the circumstances, we do what we think is right. So years later when we sit and try to reflect back our actions, can we call it a mistake? Our situation has changed now. Can we justify our actions of the past with the present situation? I like to share a story. Once there is a promising young politician. He was so disheartened at how his people are behaving and being treated, he decided to write a book about it. It turn out to be one of the best political book he ever written. But he received black lashed from the then ruling party. They ostracized him, said he have humiliated his race and his people. But the book became a "bible" for many young aspirants like me who have become politically conscious. The book was an eye opener because it is being written with honesty and sincerity. Years later, this young political writer becomes a prominent minister. He is now the top man and during one of his news conference, he remarked "That book was a mistake " My reaction is : WAS IT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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