Last fall, I attended another class reunion. I was happy to see classmates that I had not seen for years. The event gave me the opportunity to catch up with some and reconnect with others that I had lost track of.

One thing that I noticed at the reunion was that most of the people who attended spent more time discussing where they have been instead of where they are going. I suppose this is normal for a reunion, but it’s not just limited that occasion. It seems that as we get older, we look back more than we look forward. I recall that in our youth, these same individuals and I talked far more about where we were going and very little about where we had been.

The optimist in me believes that if we choose to live our lives looking forward instead of back, we would enjoy more of life and accomplish more. The same enthusiasm we experienced as we graduated from high school would continue into each new phase of life, whatever that may be. We would continue living forward with a growing sense of accomplishment as we anticipate the future still ahead of us.

When we drive, we spend more time looking forward, focusing on the road ahead. Life gives us many twists and turns, but if we are looking – and living – forward, we can see the direction of that path. We can chart the path. Although from time to time we glance in the rear view mirror to see where we have been, our primary focus is on where we are going. Since our lives are a journey, we should live forward until we reach our final destination.
Are you living forward?

Clifford A. Bailey
optimist and professional speaker on Emotional Intelligence