Don't Look Back

Someone once asked me if my plane has a rearview mirror. While it might be useful for keeping an eye on the kids in the back seats, there’s little need for one because most planes don’t have rear windows.

But when the question was asked, I remembered something a friend used to say every time he started a new venture. According to him, in the early days of cross country racing, drivers would rip out their rearview mirrors and fling them out the windows before the race’s start because they didn’t need to see where they’d been, only where they were going.

I don’t know the legitimacy of this story, but if it’s not true, well… it ought to be.

It ought to be because it’s a great reminder we need to do the same thing in life, to rip out the rearview mirror stuck in our heads. How many of us have one, angled to reflect a distant past where we wonder what would have happened had we chosen the right fork in the road instead of the left, one? How many of us look into it and wonder how different our lives would be now if we’d possessed the guts to chase our dreams versus settle for steady paychecks? Do those focused on that rearview mirror cringe at how much time has passed, paralyzed to act in the here and now because their so far behind where they could have been?

Or worse, how many have that rearview mirror pointed squarely at themselves so they can judge the person they see? We scold ourselves, question the decisions we’ve made, point out the potential we’ve squandered, feel shame for the times we took the easy way out.

The truth is, our futures are as bright as we want them to be, brighter than we could ever expect. We simply can’t see it sometimes because that rearview mirror is blocking our sunny future, showing the dark clouds behind us, as if they were a barometer of the weather ahead of us. When our field of vision contains this dark mirror, it’s easy to decide that only more turbulent times are ahead. But they’re not. The real journey of our lives is still ahead of us, no matter what happened before. And we have more control over the outcome than most believe.

Not too long ago, I watched a dark, disturbing film, which is not my typical fare. Most of the movie brought me down, but there was one line in it that made the whole movie worth watching:

“Every passing moment is another chance to turn it all around.”

Chase your dreams. Your future is bright. Don’t cloud it up by looking backward.

Update - A friend and I were discussing this post. While he agreed we shouldn’t look back most of the time, he thought we should on occasion, for the wisdom and lessons learned from our past. It’s a fine observation, but I believe the wisdom and past lessons learned are part of who we are in the present moment. The person we were in the rearview mirror who messed up, didn’t possess either.