“So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” – John 8:7 (The Bible)
The above statement, though having it’s origin in the words of Jesus Christ, has become an idiomatic expression in english language and is listed amongst regular phrases. It means to be the first to attack a sinner. While the concept behind the reason it was used is very interesting, I’ll like to look at the statement from a different side.
In the particular event described above, everybody at the scene of what would have turned out to be a stoning event culminating in killing an adultress, walked away. One by one they dropped their stones and left. Why? They left because the statement underscores one reality – Everybody has a past! No matter at what point we are at today, all of us have things that we did or happened to us, that still send shivers down our spines. We all have pasts! Pasts that have the capacity to rid us of our beautiful futures, pasts that hunt us, pasts that if we don’t render powerless, have untold power to paralyse our forward resolve. We can’t steer our way into the future carrying the baggage of past mistakes or mishaps. Our past doesn’t have to limit our future.
Holding on to the past has a way of slowing down the arrival of one’s desired future. The good past should not be so exciting that it becomes the enemy of a better future, neither should the bad past linger so long that it clouds present options. We need to deliberately manage our pasts as we match on confidently to live the life of our dreams.
“Learn the past, watch the present and create the future” – Anonymous
The only value in the past are the lessons from it. What did I do well, what didn’t I do well? What can you do better, where did you err? What was your fault, what wasn’t? Those who do not learn from the past, are likely to repeat it. Like wine, we mature with time, who you are today is the summation of all your experiences. Aging is uncounsious, growth is not. About the past, learn the lessons, forget the details. Like J.F Kennedy said – “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
“Every saint has a past, and every sinner a future” – Oscar Wilde
Don’t be too hard on yourself. In the final analysis you have a past and a future. You are not any different from all others. Don’t loose yourself mourning or getting aggravated over what you can’t change, you are human and everybody has their share. Deal with it and move on. The future belongs to those who believe in the power of their dreams. Relinquish your anger of the past, the more angry you are about the past the more difficult it would be to love in the present. When you forgive another, the real person you free is you.
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Alva Edison
Don’t stop because it didn’t work out before, reset your strategies and try again another way. Tell yourself today will be a better day. Don’t give up. Life is 10% what happens to us, and 90% how we respond to it. Don’t let the fears you developed from your past halt your confident strides towards your future. We loose the battle first in our minds before we do in reality. Don’t change the rules, don’t change your ideals to suit what seems possible. Don’t give up! What ever it is, shall come to pass.
