Don't Look Back

In some aspect, life can be considered a relay race which each of us is preparing to run the greatest race of our lives. Yet, there will be circumstance that will hold us back from either finishing the race or crossing the finishing line and attaining a medal. One such circumstance is the past because, in a way, it's a giant weight that will slow us down and keep us from moving forward with the present and into the future. Someone once said, ~What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment, you can choose to to make everything new, right now.~

If you think about it, from brith to our teenage years our parents are immediately training and guiding us to something much greater in life. As one's proverbial track coaches, they push us to excel even though experience has somewhat taught that parents tend to relive their past youth through their kids. Oftentimes, the training and guidance that they give can bring resentment, as well as pain, both mentally and physically; but that's the past. For the expectations that were pushed beyond one's limits, are put to the test as the gun sounds. One must continue to look straight ahead as one will eventually pass the baton, which signifies a handing over of a childhood that is past to adulthood that is present.

As one run straight forward into adulthood, he or she will hopefully not drop the baton, a mistake that can sometimes haunt a person. It's a matter of keeping focus on the task at hand but sometimes pictures of the past will tend to pop from time to time. Images, which represent certain people that have made an impact in one life both personally and professionally, will flash in one's mind. Yet, if one reminices too long, a person will become distracted and lose focus on where he or she is. Inevitably, all that one has worked hard for will be lost, for a great deal of time and effort will be wasted as the baton is passed from the present to the future.

Joe Henderson once said, ~Your toughness is made up of equal pars of persistance and experience. You don't so much outrun your opponent as outlast and outsmart them and the toughest opponent of all is the one inside our head.~ In a way, as the baton is passed on into our latter years, the past mistakes and pain that we have endured and/or inflicted, both mentally and physically, will be forgotten. It's just a matter of taking each step stride by stride, as one is getting ever so much closer to that finish line of life. Ultimately, it's not about winning that matters; what matters is that you were prepared to win and never gave up on the relay race of life.

In retrospect, as one gets older the race of life, though strenuous; is the most rewarding experience a person will ever be a part of. Though, one's time will become slower as one gets older in mind, body and soul; the experiences of the racing is simply unforgettable. Each step in the race represented our own personal drama that each of us endured, challenges that pulled us in ever possible direction or another, but most of all it helped us learn more about us and others. In the end, our greatest rival when running the relay race of life will always be the past; so when it comes to the past, don't look back because you may just stumble and/or fall.