Mindset

C.L. Harmon

I like history. But more importantly, I like history the way it is. Does this mean that I am proud of all that has been done throughout human history? Of course not. But I am grateful for what we learned from the actions of those who came before us. Many of those actions have been heroic and honorable and many have been destructive and evil. Whatever they might have been in nature, they were lessons in what propels us forward and what holds us back, what saves us and what destroys us.

Every action leaves residue, a mark or an imprint in time that may be forgotten but never erased.  Below the sediment, oceans and dense jungles are buried cultures of who we once were as human beings moving through existence one day at a time. And each subsequent generation picked up the broken pieces of their present left behind from the past to forge a new future. It is our nature to take the past and learn from it. It is our hubris which prevents us from doing so.

Throughout our existence, we have righted so many wrongs and changed multiple unfair practices. We have honored many of those who fought against tyranny and injustice and taught civility and patience between peoples and government. We have done so because of what the past has taught us when we don’t pursue these actions. We were what was chosen in the past, but we are now what we choose today only because we already know who we have been. We can be the best parts of the past by understanding that the best elements of humanity are sprinkled throughout history and given as a gift to each new generation.