When was the last time somebody told you not to weep over spilled milk, or you told somebody to get over it and move on? Getting over it is easier said than done. Let’s face it! Letting go of yesterday is extremely difficult and at times excruciatingly painful. The lure of wallowing in self-pity and receiving sympathy from others becomes an almost in escapable trap. We are tempted to hold on to past hurts, failures, disappointments and miss opportunities at the expense of the present and the future.
Nobody drives by focusing solely on the rearview mirror, for intuition and experience demands that you only glance at your rearview mirror occasionally. If you disobey this rule, you are going to be involved in a crash that can cost your life. This is serious and all drivers obey this rule most of the time. Hanging onto yesterday, especially focusing solely on failures, disappointments, betrayals and missed opportunities is tantamount to driving solely with your review mirror. You are headed for a crash and that can cost you friendships, business opportunities, promotion, innovation and your life.
Yesterday is gone and it should not be the only criteria you use in measuring how well you will do today. Each day is a fresh opportunity to start all over, so make the most of it. When you say, I am set in my ways and cannot change despite the fact that everything surrounding you says otherwise, you are letting yesterday rob you of the present. For example, you just left the consultant’s office and the recommendation is that you make some changes in the way customer service is handled in your business and all you say is, “We have always done our business like this and there is no need to change it.” You may even state with all conviction that you tried it already and it did not work. What you are indirectly saying is that my yesterday has the final say. That should not be the case. Living in the past means the present will pass you by, since you cannot be in two places at the same time. Something has to give if you try to be in two places at the same time. It is an extremely frustrating and costly way to live. Maybe some of the frustration, and headache, is a result of lingering too much in yesterday.
Therefore it will do you a lot of good if you take the adviceof Isaiah and Israeli prophet of old. He said,“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”This is ancient wisdom that still applies to us to day. Yesterday is gone, so let it go as well. There is no point holding tight to what is completely out of your control.