Personal Notes 

On A Personal Note - Hiding behind your past.

It really is amazing how many people, who really should know better, try to justify their bad behaviour by blaming it on their past.

This of course just shows how immature and irresponsible they are.

Politicians blame their inability to govern on the "ills" of the previous government.

Alcoholics blame their parents.

Child molesters blame the fact that they were molested.

Hooligans and thugs blame their environment, and/or the previous government, and/or their parents.

There are some who even blame the slave trade of over 300 years ago. (Now while I find it reprehensible that any human can treat another human this way I am not going to apologise for what my great, great, great great, great grandfather may or may not have done to yours. I wasn't there and I had nothing to do with it. It's a bit like blaming Eve for eating the apple. It won't change anything.)

And I am sure that we can go on and on naming the "complaining and blaming" gang, people who will do anything to avoid taking responsibility for their lives.

It's all a lot of grass processed by a male bovine.

Anyone who blames his/her past for their current bad behaviour ought to be immediately removed from society and locked up in an institution as they are publically declaring themselves to be unable to control themselves and are therefore unfit to be left, un-chaperoned, in society.

First of all, no matter how bad your past it is exactly that, your past and that's where you should leave it. "But you can't expect me to just forget my past" said a fairly prominent public figure just recently after he had made some very vitriolic comments (which unfortunately clearly demonstrated his lack of maturity)

Well no I am not expecting you to forget your past I am suggesting that you do the mature thing and put it behind you so that you can move on with your life. In all things you have a choice. You can choose what you remember and you can choose how you remember it, but most importantly you choose how you behave. And be aware of this. If you know enough to attempt to justify or defend your bad behaviour then it means that you know enough to know that you shouldn't have done it in the first place.

Now you can be a "because of" or you can be an "in spite of". The "because of's" are always looking for sympathy and making excuses for their uselessness while the "in spite of's" are always looking for opportunities and reasons to grow. Just look at people like Helen Keller, Oscar Pretorius, Colin Powell, Sydney Poitier and the many like them who in spite of their past, their childhood, their environment and their challenges achieved greatness. Just think of this. We seldom remember the "because of's" and if we remember them at all it is seldom with pride.

But it is your choice what you do with your past.

You can hide behind it, constantly reliving it and keeping it between you and your future and missing out on the magic of NOW; or

You can learn from it. Let it go and put it behind you and move on with your life growing with confidence into your future.

The choice is yours you can hide behind your past or stride boldly into your future building on the confidence of the knowledge that you made it through your past to who you are now.

To live your best life be true to the YOU, that you want to be.

Live up to the reputation that you want to have.