The Antithesis of the Way We Were
There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.
~ C. S. Lewis; Scholar, Novalist, Apologist
Great memories are made when we least expect them. Do you long to return to the days when your cheerleading outfit was a symbol of your place in the social order, or the size of the engine in your hot-rod was your best pick up line? If so, you may be missing out on the best that is yet to come. To hold on tightly to our past, longing for yesterday negates the prospect that the future can offer an even better life. We sell ourselves short when we think only in terms of what once was, instead of what can be.
Unstoppable
There will be times that we want everything around us to stop so that we can take in the sights, the scenery or the sounds. But stagnation is not our friend; whatever it was that we want to hold on to tightly, will soon lose its appeal. When we look past the present, our here and now, to what the future has to offer, our focus can change from what it is that serves as a tether to what it will take to propel us forward.
Do you have a sense of purpose that is unstoppable? How can we shed attitudes that breed complacency and replace them with ones that foster optimism? Can the malaise, the uneasiness we see in our circumstances, be pushed aside and yield to intentionality and momentum? What will it take to gain traction and Inertia that make us passionate and unstoppable?
Consider these words from C. S. Lewis:
We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, if followed long enough, will therefore, draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the centre: rather in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two, and each of those into two again, and at each fork, you must make a decision.
We don’t get to choose when we encounter a fork. Forks happen, and all too often we see them as an obstacle to overcome, forced upon us when we may be at a personal or professional low point. Frequently, it is when we are in these troughs, in the worst condition to make decisions, that we are forced to choose between forks that will be the most consequential.
Ironically, when confronted with possible life-changing decisions about our future, we draw from our past, taking stock of the unique talents and treasures with which we have been entrusted. When we are able to leverage experiences from our past, harness our insatiable drive for a better life, applying lessons we have learned, we can boldly embrace the unforeseeable with a sense of purpose and passion.
Unapologetic
Still, there is a time and a place to live in the here and now, and quite possibly it’s place is where you find yourself, and it’s time is now. A friend of mine, himself a member of the club, reminded me just the other day that sometimes you have to stop and smell the gunpowder. Offensive as his comments may be to those who lean left, his words struck a cord, serving as a reminder to carve out time in our quest to attain dominion over our sandbox to live in the moment.
Great memories are made when we least expect them, just as great friendships are formed not so we can be somebody but only when we find those with whom we can be ourselves.
It was C. S. Lewis who wrote:
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.
Looking back over the years, I have encountered many forks, and those I have taken with the support and encouragement of friends and family, have been the most memorable. The forks I have taken, I have done so without regret!
Unmistakeable
Each morning, when I walk into my new office, I see before me a reminder of how my life is different from what I thought it would be. The view out my window is a panoramic scene of Muskegon Lake that reminds me of how my goals have changed and how I have changed. I have a fond memory of a wind-less summer Saturday afternoon on that very lake many years ago that Lisa and I spent on my sailboat looking for even the slightest breeze that would get us back on course.
The lack of wind, in its own way, was a fork that brought about change, incremental as it was that put me on a course that was neither fathomable nor imaginable. Had I dropped the sails and started the engine, I would have missed out on what is now a fond memory of a time when I was naive and idealistic, and my goals were far less virtuous and my motives less pure. But that story is for another time — maybe.
Welcome to my extraordinary life! Thanks for reading, liking, and sharing!
You will have to forgive Ivy. She is pouting since I put a stop to her version of Go Fish.
Al and his faithful, but unsportsmanlike sidekick, Ivy the wonder pup.
Sorry Ivy, until you learn to “release” you will have to fish off the dock