Winning Words 6/30/11
“I’ve got my faults, but living in the past is not one of them. There’s no future in it.” (Sparky Anderson) As we age, most of us tend to look back and remember “the good old days.” Yes, there was “good” in some of them. I appreciate my memories, but life goes on. It was unfortunate that dementia robbed Sparky of his past, but past was always past with him. The future is full of “new” memories. ;-) Jack

MORE FROM JACK: I just came across this one which seems to go with today's Winning Words. The author is one of my favorite new discoveries. "You can't base your life on the past or the present. You have to tell me about your future." (Chuck Palahniuk)

FROM RI IN BOSTON: Those incidents of the past that we cling to in memory...the good old days...wouldn't be the same in today's world. Stated another way: You can't go home again.////FROM JACK: Today, It might be interesting to make two lists. 1) Five things from the past that I would like to have today. 2) Five things from the present that are an improvement over the past.////MORE FROM RI: I'll just pop in one selection for each: 1) From the past...I'd like once again have my first automobile, a 1930 Chevrolet. 2) An improvement over the past...ice cream in 32 flavors.////FROM JACK: Keep working on it.

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: For us Christians living in grace and always renewing, being transformed, Sparky sounds like he was wide open to grace. But these WW are making me reflect upon how a lot of us struggle with our own pasts or else with someone else's past, especially the expectations that come with pasts like we have and put obstacles in the way of historical change. We had all that welfare reform a couple of decades ago but still need to get a good handle on how to support and help to move people up and out of poverty and hunger in our country. Happy 4th of July.////FROM JACK: Sparky might not know exact definition of, "grace," but he might use the words, "I know it when I see it." The context is different, but the thought is the same.

FROM HS IN MICHIGAN: Difficult but true. Even though I'm just a young man, I too will often think of the good old days and grow sentimental. I need to appreciate the now and look to the future.////FROM JACK: I hope that you are keeping a journal of experiences related to your present work (and life). You won't be a young man forever. In fact, you're growing older with each passing day. That's not all bad....older and wiser.

FROM TAMPA SHIRL: Yes, it is, and it can be exciting and challenging at times, can't it?////FROM JACK: The gift of being able to remember the past enables us to exchange recollections.