The Rear-View Mirror

Do you ever catch yourself looking back, as if looking through your rear-view mirror?

There is an obvious reason why the windshield is far bigger than the rear view mirror. It's because that is where you'd better be looking when you intend to get somewhere safely.

Nevertheless, many people conduct their life constantly looking back. The outcome is inevitable: several wrecks along the way.

Sad events and traumatic experiences in our lives have the dangerous power of sucking us down into a life of constant defeat and hopelessness. They pull us down in a manner that will significantly affect the outcome of the rest of our lives. If we let them.

It depends on us whether we yield to them or not.

Lift up your eyes and look before you. Picture your life as a path made of cement. The cement behind you is already hardened; you cannot change a thing about it. But turn around and look up in front of you: there is a long stretch of fresh cement you do have influence upon.

Yes, you can make changes in life. And the best time to start is right now. There are changes that I am making and I will stand by the changes I am making.

But how can we possibly ignore, or forget, experiences that have painfully marked our lives? Don't they seem to be constantly lurking in the background, only to show up and discourage us when we are about to make a step forward? Yes they are there, but only if you let them will they hold you back. I have done some things in my past, that I would change if I could, but I can't. They make me who I am and make me have so much compassion for others. I have not always been a good person, but I know that God loves me and forgives me. He will always love me for who I am and not things that I have done. It is things like that, that need to sustain me when I feel the urgency to dwell in the past and keep looking back. I am looking forward in 2009; I will try not to dwell on the past.