Putty & Stone

from time to time we all run across a nugget, a life lesson, or perhaps a motto to live by. this morning i attended a small church that a good friend and mentor of mine was preaching at. during his sermon he served up a great nugget. "you can't drive a car straight forward by staring in the rearview mirror." meaning you can't live your life by dwelling on the past. just like driving. while driving forward you should only glance in the rearview mirror. it is good to remember the past and to learn from it, but if you dwell, sulk, or live in the past your gunna drift of course.

what if.....
if only......
i should of.....
i could of......
i wish i would've.....

are these bad phrases? i don't think so, but that doesn't mean that can't do harm. they're like ice cream. they're not a bad.... in moderation. taking a moment to look in the mirror and remember the past helps protect us on our journey. i think it is okay to say these phrases once or twice about the past, but when you constantly look in the rearview mirror of life and run "what if" scenarios through your head you will only drift off course. sometimes you might even crash and burn. i have run across a few people in my life that have this problem. they spend so much time thinking of what they could have or should have done in a particular situation or time in their life that they don't make a whole lot of forward progress. no matter what you do or think the past will never change. so why put so much time and effort into something that you can't do anything about? why not put your time and effort into something that is a lot more moldable, a lot more like putty and a lot less like stone? something like the future.