Friday, February 20, 2009

The Past is Not Prologue

The past is not prologue. Whatever happened up to this very minute has no meaning whatsoever, EXCEPT the meaning that you give to it. Bear with me here. Starting with the concept that you see what you believe, and what you believe is shaped by your experiences (read: the past), then what you believe always comes from the past. Therefore, whatever you believe only has meaning for you because it already happened, and you based your thinking and conclusions on that. The past informed your beliefs. Done.
The future cannot inform your beliefs, because in our world, the future has not yet occurred. Anything that we think about the future is largely conjecture, until it actually happens. Sure, some things are a shoo-in. Leno will be on TV tonight. The milk will be in the fridge tomorrow morning. Gas prices will fluctuate over time. There is a level of predictability that we depend upon. When the world feels unpredictable, as it certainly does in the current economic climate, we have a tendency to color our perceptions with our beliefs - this helps us maintain a level of control or security.

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