Ghosts of the Past©Scott D. Wilson 2015
"The best predictor of future behavior is relevant past behavior." — Dr. Phil
Well, it is 2015, a new year. January is classically the time to reflect on the past and look towards the future. I have quoted above the the popular maxim of television personality Doctor Phil McGraw. From a straightforward context this statement seems completely sound. Our past is usually a good way to forecast our future. Generally this is true but specifically it can and will break down. The burning question that arises from this adage is: Does our past define us? Have our past choices locked us on a certain and inevitable course?
The answer depends fundamentally on how we view existence. If we are mere biological machines mindlessly reacting to the stimuli of our environment then we are certainly doomed to follow a hapless path of consequence and reaction till we die. Like a mechanical device, our behaviour would be governed by a set of rules, complex or otherwise, and so we would predictably follow a given path from birth to death based on action and reaction. This is the view of many scientists today. If this is so then we are all victims of circumstance and fate. Our past has locked us on auto-pilot.
Indeed, many people do live predictable lives. They are puzzled by their own reactions and choices. They live many days but experience little difference and rarely learn from their own experiences or those of others. These unfortunate folks follow life like a dream, letting it take them where it may, hoping that it does not become a nightmare and occasionally hoping they will wake up. Doctor Phil is correct about such people. They definitely prove the adage about the past and reinforce the scientific view of causality.
Fortunately, there is much evidence to show that we each retain a powerful ability, and that is the option to choose. We always have the opportunity to choose a different path for our life. We can learn from our successes and failures, as well as those of others. With careful consideration we can opt to move away from the choices of the past and put into action different possibilities and open new unconsidered doors of opportunity.
Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith were drunks. Their past decisions had locked them into a wreckless addiction with alcohol. They were both on paths that would have brought sickness and ruin to their lives. Medicine had told them they would either die of alcoholism or become confined to an assylum. One day the two met, fell into conversation and became friends. Together they discovered a different path that changed their lives and ended their slavery to drink. Their choices created a new way for addicts and from their work, today we have Alcoholics Anonymous.
We do not need to be a slave to our past. The past may haunt us but it does not have the power to define us. We all hold the spark of creation within us. Our future is not built for us. We can build something new today. We can make new pathways. We can say goodbye to our ghosts!
“My past has not defined me, destroyed me, deterred me, or defeated me; it has only strengthened me.” ― Steve Maraboli
