As long as I am alive I know there is always another chance, another opportunity to change and improve on the many things I have done or said. There is no time for regret. That is just a waste of time.
From time to time, I find it easy to think about how things might have been. But, it’s all nonsense. It could only have been the way it was. And, the experience of life is wonderful on its face . . even if you choose, for whatever reason, a more difficult course or an easier one. Of course, I think I would have liked an easier one. But, I have this one, so what could be better.
You cannot dwell on the past, unless you want to. Of course, if you do, you are reliving the past and not having new experiences which redefine yourself as the person you are and the person you are becoming.
I have been thinking about this in terms of nations. The wonderful thing about having a 2000 year history is the connection with the past, the association with the noble actions of your ancestors, the feeling that you are a part of history and can point to the gravestones to prove it. But, it comes at a price. Two thousand years of memories have to be preserved. People have to be dedicated to restore old things that need to be enshrined. Youth spend their time on these past accomplishments and glories instead of focusing on redefining a new paradigm for the future . . during the relatively few years they have to do it.
Donald Trump was sent off to boarding school when he was 13 because his parents considered him incorrigible. From all indications that was the end of his development as a person. He seems to have blustered his way through life abusing and successfully bullying everyone in his path, including the partisan legislature. Good men and women have quit in the face of his abusive onslaught.
But, there will be another day.