Not Living in the Past

​You’ve likely encountered someone or multiple people who tend to live in the past. They’re always talking about the glory days and how good things were back then, wishing they could go back. Maybe that’s you.
 
People like that make me think of Uncle Rico, a middle-aged character in the movie Napoleon Dynamite. As a high school quarterback, Rico’s coach didn’t put him in fourth quarter of the state championship game. Rico was sure if the coach had, his team would have been state champs, and his life would have been entirely different.
 
In a nutshell, Uncle Rico is discontent. He never healed from the hurt his coach caused him. It paralyzed Rico to the point he felt he had to prove to the world that he was an amazing football player. So he made videos of himself throwing and catching a football.
 
We’ve likely all had tragic and traumatic things happen to us at some point in our lives. I have. I could have let those things paralyze and cripple me, leaving me stuck in the past. But I chose to rise above them, to learn from them, and to move on.
 
Was it easy? No. I had to face the pain and the hurt, and relive the feelings. It was not a fun process at all. Nor was it quick. But I’m a better me today because of it.
 
There’s much more of life for me to enjoy and partake of. Too much for me to stay in the past wishing my life today were different. I choose to remember where I’ve come from and how far I’ve come, but not to dwell there. I’m going to take one day at a time and continue looking forward. I encourage you to do the same.

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