History Is On Your Side

One of the coolest things to know is that history is on your side.  What history does for us is provide a record of what happened prior to the lead-up to where you are right now.  The question is what are you choosing to do with it?  Sometimes, we do not think about it much, but the way we carry ourselves through life has a big dependency on our past.  And, this does not just apply to individuals, but it can apply to groups, organizations, and companies as well.

The bad thing about the past is that some can dwell on it, do nothing in the future because of it, and/or let it control all the negative aspects of their life.  For example, someone who has been abused throughout their childhood may grow up to be abusive to their children or others around them.  Or, an organization could have done great things in the past that brought them to a position of major prominence or prestige.  The issue is that rather than continuing excellence, that group could rest on what was done and never continue to move forward creating new history.  The next thing you know the group is floundering and not as successful because they've rested on their past and what it did for them decades ago.

The great thing is that history can be a good learning moment.  Those same examples above could be spun into positive movements forward. The person who was abused could choose to let their past help positively shape their future in a way that:  1) helps them or others around them to not go through abuse, or 2) help them to recover from abusive relationships.  The organization that could have failed because of resting on their laurels could use their great past and history as a learning platform on how to continue to create positive history to continuously propel their group forward.  It is all a matter of which side you choose.

You can make a choice to allow your past to positively propel you in life or you can let it negatively drag you down. My questions for you are how does your past shape your life or group and which side do you fall on??