Why remember? It will determine your future!

I was listening to a local talk show yesterday as they commemorated 9-11 and reflected on how this had changed their lives. What stood out, sadly, is that the generation growing up weren’t around when this tragedy happened. So, the hosts mentioned how there is a growing sentiment that the remembering of this tragedy might lessen and disappear over the years. Classrooms are slow to talk about what happened because of its’ graphic nature.

Is it possible to learn from yesterday’s mess-ups, so tomorrow can be a better day? Does it require that I’m humble enough to recognize my own short comings to be receptive to figuring out what’s next? I’ve always fell back on the quotes by Edmund Burke and these others to highlight the significance of how the past does matter. Yet, I’m so slow and reticent to admit that yesterday wasn’t the best. 

“Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.” 
― Edmund Burke

“Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it” 
― Sara Shepard, Wanted

“We're doomed to repeat the past no matter what. That's what it is to be alive. It's pretty dense kids who haven't figured that out by the time they're ten.... Most kids can't afford to go to Harvard and be misinformed.” 
― Kurt Vonnegut, Bluebeard

I appreciate Kurt Vonnegut’s down to earth realism of how this must become one of the basic life lessons that everyone learns by the age of ten. Regardless of what academic institution you attend or ‘god forbid’ you don’t go to college, it’s still possible for everyone to learn how to open their eyes, ask for help and make tomorrow a better day. 

Unfortunately, it’s so easy for everyone to automatically do the blame game and pick a villain to point their fingers at for the reason their lives are a mess. Yet, one of the signs of maturity, that has little to do with age, is your ability to own up to the mess in front of you! I can’t fathom that anyone wouldn’t want to have a better life! Why is it the case that we have allowed circumstances to consume us to such an extent that stress sadly seems to be a daily life experience. Why purposely choose to live with stress and hypertension as if it’s suppose to be a normal part of life? 

I would hope that the past would teach us that we are fragile and do need a support group, friends and family to make life enriching! Time to remember and learn from the past so our tomorrows can rock the world.