LETTING GO OF SUCCESS

Conference meeting room - “No grand idea was ever born in a conference, but a lot of foolish ideas have died there.”

I want to make the most of every day. And, like most people, I've discovered that the best way to do it is to let go of past failures.

But that's not all. One can never fully enjoy today while dwelling too much on past successes, either. People never succeed while resting comfortably on their laurels. As Ivern Ball has said, "The past should be a springboard, not a hammock." The fact is, sometimes our successes hold us back more than our failures!

I once heard a story about the actor Clark Gable. A friend paid Gable a visit one afternoon at the actor's home. She brought along her small son, who amused himself by playing with toy cars on the floor. He pretended he was racing those cars around a great track, which in reality was an imaginary circle around a golden statuette. The small statue the boy played with was actually the Oscar Clark Gable won for his performance in the 1934 movie It Happened One Night.

When his mother told him the time had come to leave, the little boy asked the actor, "Can I have this?" pointing to the Oscar.

"Sure," he smiled. "It's yours."

The horrified mother objected. "Put that back immediately!"

Giving the child the golden statue, Clark Gable said, "Having the Oscar around doesn't mean anything to me; earning it does." The actor seemed to know that past success could be a comfortable hammock upon which he may be tempted to rest, rather than a springboard launching him to the next level.

Biblical wisdom says, "Do not cling to events of the past or dwell on what happened long ago." You may have learned to let go of past failures and mistakes in order to free the present. But will you loosen your grip on past successes and achievements in order to free the future? Will your past be a springboard or a restful hammock?

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past," said Thomas Jefferson. I agree. After all, the future, not the past, is where the rest of your life will be lived.

From Lifesupport.