Beep Beep Beep! There is no Future in your Past

STORY Of THE DAY –

Title:  Beep, Beep” THERE IS NO FUTURE (in Your Past)

By Rita Richardson Jackson, BA, MA 

In the African American culture, we sometimes use stories to get a message over to our children, or a person that we love, without lecturing them. Here’s is another example of such a story…………………  Maybe you’ve heard it before, since we sometimes change the story up a little to fit the situation or the transformative experience that we hope will transpire to within the listeners.  Anyway, here’s my version. ~ Rita J.

I live near a very peaceful (beautiful) golf course. But there is one thing that is quite annoying, and this is the sound that’s made when the golf carts are put in reverse when you put them into reverse!!!!!  A beeping alarm goes off. And it doesn’t stop until you go forward

The alarm is there to let people know that you’re about to go backwards.

As I thought about it for a moment, a thought came to mind: wouldn’t it be great if we as humans had an annoying alarm that made a loud continuous beep when we are about to go into reverse? When we’re about to look back, like when you’re about to pick up that phone and call an ex that you know is no good for you, wouldn’t it be great if that alarm went on and stayed on until you hung up the phone? Wouldn’t it be great for all the people around you to hear that alarm so that they know you are about to go backwards and bring up some old crap? I think husbands and boyfriends would love that… LOL.

But seriously, there are a lot of people who are living their lives stuck in reverse, alarms going off, beeps beeping very loudly, but they can't get it out of reverse. You know these kinds of people, the ones that nobody wants to be around because they can be so annoying, always dwelling on the past. Full of “I wish I had done this” or “I wish I could have done that”. These kinds of people are sad to me, not focusing on the beauty of today, they’d rather dig through the ashes of yesterday. Listen to me, you can’t change anything that you have done in your past, all you can do is go forward. No matter how many mistakes you have made, no matter how many things you have done wrong, you have got to move forward. That is your past and there is no future in it.

And the only way to move forward is to ask for forgiveness from the people who you have hurt and wronged. Whether they forgive you or not you must ask… sorry that’s just the way it is. If you don’t you will continue to reap bad things from what you have done to them, even if they don’t forgive you. You will have the power to be free because you asked for forgiveness. And secondly, you must forgive yourself. Forgiveness is the key that can move your life forward… and turn off the reverse alarm.