back to the past

hah! you guessed right, i'm now facing the future. thus, the title, my back is toward the past now. i cannot undo things that i did. if ever there were mistakes, lots of them, i can no longer turn back time. my only consolation is this sufi saying -- "learn to behave from those who cannot". yes, if i was not able to behave well in the past, surely i should be able to behave well now. this is the value of retrospection. of remembering. things you were not able to do well before, you should be able to do well now.

one learns from the past. one must.

we must admit, in our youth, our tendency is to hurry. seemed liked we never could wait with the things that we can do with our life. we are enamored with adventure. and so we do things with so much haste, and very often, with so little love. and as they say, haste makes waste. and therefore, many times, we find ourselves confronted with mistakes, errors, pains, inconveniences, sorrows. not just ours, but others' as well, those whom we have been in contact with. those whose lives we have touched.

we ask for forgiveness. we say "i'm sorry". and we rejoice much for being forgiven. for being understood as rash, because we are young. we are glad others see our point of view -- that the world is out there for us to discover and conquer. so we plunge head on again. once more in haste.

youth is forgetful. we commit the same mistakes again. we hurt others again. we ask for more forgiveness. once more we are forgiven. this could be the reason why they said "youth is wasted on the young". yet, i believe, this is the grand design of Life. learning, evolving, and finally, remembering.

remembering our true identities. we are not these physical selves that age and weaken and die. the physical world is not the world that needs conquering. we need to realize that existence that is beyond this material world where we wasted our youth on. we are divine sparks and we are eternal.

young men must learn to turn their backs to the future. learn to face the past. and discover the lessons of lived life. they must know that they will not be forever young. they must know how to live a life of love.

old men must learn to turn their backs to the past. learn to face the future and remember to carry discovered lessons of lived life. they must know that they will not be forever old. they should know now that each forthcoming moment is a moment of love.
 
youth and old age have both an ending.

 remembrance is the key. remembrance is knowing who we truly are.

 Life Intertwined

the lazy water silently made its way
across the dusty river bank
carelessly toying 
with the dried-up leaves and broken twigs
it had carried, creating
little eddies by the side.
the waterlily sits unruffled
unmindful of the passing water
and who knows
maybe of the passing time.
a little dragonfly, brightly colored and beautiful,
cautiously alighted on the waterlily.
i threw a pebble on the water
it made bubbles and little waves
which rocked the waterlily
and drove the dragonfly!