Hindsight: A Valuable Resource
At the beginning of the new year, when still in a reflective moon about how terrible the entire previous year was, we had a few harsh words for that old year: Good riddance, we told it, and we reached up and pulled down a prayer that we never see the likes of it ever again.
But our prayers remain unanswered. Mother Earth hasn’t healed. Our oceans and forests need more intervention that involves roots attached to human hearts and brains, souls that need to wake up so that the collective fix for the problems can stick and benefit us all.
Every natural disaster, every event, every situation, and every storm is reported now as reaching statistically impossible proportions; every storm is indeed the perfect storm. Those things start somewhere, as all it takes is for one of us to open the gates and invite those storms in. That person couldn’t have had the foresight to see all this coming. No way! And that infamous person’s only defense is that he/she was blighted by greed.
But this is not the time to point blame. We’ve all been blighted by things that promise more than we need, so we understand. We forgive. We retire our blaming thoughts and smartly don our thinking caps as this is time to learn the hard lessons from those storms. All for one, One for all; or else!
Covid is still wreaking havoc in our lives, but that problem is not a stand-alone incident in and of itself. The source of that resides in us. I know it, and you know it too. We can no longer afford to avoid exposing the roots of that ugly conversation.
We’ve battled another swingeing summer at this point in the year: extreme in too many ways as mentioned and alluded to above. I don’t need to repeat yet feel it needs repeating: we need to change our consumption habits, need to curb our runaway glamor ideas of horrible stimulations that jar our souls.
We need to stop that, slow down, and delve deep to settle on ways to take on the problems by using the tools already available. Those tools are inside us, and tell you what– they are not part of a greedy monstrosity that will take us into the future but comprised of quiet, soul-residing values that exist in all of us.
And now, with hardly three months left of the year, we better don those thinking caps and reflect on the lessons, for we know what valuable resource hindsight is.
If you’re here reading these words, that’s because you and I are right where we’re meant to be. We are the blessed ones, my friends, so let’s make the best of it, give our all to the work ahead. Or kiss our children’s future goodbye.
Saying this brings to mind a parable that I haven’t thought of in the longest time. Allow me. See if the story from Matthew 25: 14–30 speaks to you as a healthy reminder of how we are given lessons — in the parable, they call them talents — according to our skills and abilities. How we deal with these helps us to find solace in having survived. It is this kind of recognition that allows us to grow in awareness, empathy, and more.
Or, if you prefer something more recent, think back to the timeless messages in The Matrix Movie. I will leave that up to you.
What we came to know as the working rhythm of our lives has changed. But what if that day-in-day-out rhythm wasn’t working? What if it wasn’t enhancing our capabilities as active members of the human race? It’s not for me to say, but what if Morpheus was right?
"Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work… when you go to church… when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. Neo: What truth? Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind." ~ Lana Wachowski, The Matrix: The Shooting Script
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In my corner of the world, ninety percent of the people I interact with have been fully vaccinated. I haven’t felt restricted from doing anything, and every person I know is vigilant and conforms to the required mask-wearing, social distancing, and hygiene requirements. I do this willingly for myself, my family, and others, understand and accept that this is how it must be.
While social distancing still feels unnatural, mask-wearing and hand sanitizing have become second nature now. Keeping a mask on outdoors this summer was hard, and as best as I could, I kept mine on.
As I sit here typing this to you in Japan, heavy gray clouds prevent the sun from gracing us. But the clouds that hover are nothing compared to the realization that we’re living through a new wave of the mutated virus.
New stringent restrictions are ongoing, and I cannot help feeling like I always do when I take off on an airplane — suspended, safely buckled up in my seat. Those minutes after hearing that ‘ping’ that indicates the captain has removed the buckle-your-seatbelt-sign usually has me in conversation with God. In that state, I’m asking Him to guide the pilot throughout the long flight to land us safely in Dallas, my usual transit destination.
Only after I complete my communion like this am I able to relax. Later on, after I talk myself into letting go of my fear of flying and I activate my faith in my higher power, I get up to walk the aisles and look out the windows.
But sign or no sign, as long as I’m seated, I keep my seatbelt securely fastened.
Is your experience on international flights anything like mine? Or are you one who gets up the moment the sign turns off?
We are a complicated species. Psychology Today offers excellent insight on how to quiet your inner turmoil if you struggle as I do.
And so I pray:
May we remain grounded.
May we use them to the best of our capabilities so that the knowledge that
comes in hindsight is valuable when this year is over.
*
An aside: Here on my website, I use this platform to write on subjects I’m passionate about. This month my heart aches for Gaia and in the first poem I wrote in the new month I touch on the subject of how we’re given free will on how we spend our days. I invite you to read it. Please browse.
Rearview mirror image credits: Image by jwvein from Pixabay
Baby image: Photo by BARBARA RIBEIRO on Pexels.com
THANKS FOR READING
I Wish You Miracles.
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Interesting post. Nice written you doing well gideline follow.
Great post, Selma. Truly enjoyed the read. ❤️
Great post Selma! This past years have been quite devastating for everyone around the world, covid is getting the very best of us it seems. Hope and pray things get better in time ❣️
😘 🤗
This deeply resonated with me, Selma. If only all of us do our bit! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Hey, My sweets. Forgive the late response. Been experiencing issues with comments. 😔 Thanks for visiting. I appreciate you.
My pleasure. No worries. 😘
Plenty to think about here Selma. Many of your thoughts echo my own. I thought it rather short sighted to blame all of our woes on 2020, and wrote about it at the time. ‘Covid is still wreaking havoc in our lives, but that problem is not a stand-alone incident in and of itself’ – everything is connected; business as usual can’t continue.
I, too am a nervous flyer, even on short flights. I find it difficult to relax even after the fasten seatbelt signs have been turned off!
Your words are comforting, Ingrid. Glad to be in company with you. I bless you.