No Going Back...

 Billy Joel recently played his 100th show at Madison Square Garden.  I've been hearing a lot of Billy Joel lately (not a bad thing) and he's said a lot of profound things in his songs over the years.  (Did he intend that or did it just happen?)  One that sticks with me is "Cause the good ole days weren't always good. And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems."  It's a reminder to me that when we look back on the past it often seems better than it was and that we tend to think the worst of the future because we don't know what it might bring (as much as we might think we do).

I know I often yearn for the "good old days" when my son was small and we would cuddle up together.  His hugs and kisses were priceless and I treasure those memories.  However, if I really think about it along with those precious moments there were also smelly diapers, fights over eating/food, and sleepless nights.  Those aren't things I want to go back to. I want the cuddles, but not the other "stuff" that went along with it.  That was never possible.  It never COULD have been possible.  There is no good without bad; no highs without lows.

I miss my parents terribly.  There are so many times that I want to talk to one or both of them; to share news.  I wish they were still here.  But if I am honest with myself (and this blog will also attest to that), life with them wasn't always easy.  As much as I miss the early morning calls I used to make to my mother on my drive to work; they were also often a chore.  Now I want to talk to my mom, but when I felt that I HAD to, it was a different story.

While it's nice to look back on the good moments of our live, we cannot dwell in the past.  Life is meant to be lived not, not remembered.  When we walk, we go forward not back.  When we drive, we go forward, not back.  I do recognize that sometimes we do have to back up a little, but it's not something with consistently and continually do.  (Can you imagine?  Backing up for miles?  How difficult and dangerous would that be?)  We need to live in the now.  We should focus on where we are now and where we want to go in the future.  Or as another great musician once said: "These are the good old days."

The past is past.  What happened happened.  We can't change it or go back to it.  (There are no time machines as far as I know and even if we DID have such a thing, WOULD we go back?  Should we?  Returning to Billy Joel:  "the good ole days weren't always good.") We are meant to move forward.  What that forward will look like depends on us ALL.