“Life can only be understood backward, but it must be lived forwards.” Soren Kierkegaard. This philosophical statement was made over 100 years ago but its unwavering truth has stood the test of generations. To understand life forward, you might have lived a life in the past to flashback to and examine what has passed. What you gather and understand from the past gives you an understanding of the life you lived in your past. In understanding life, you see your mistakes of yesterday only in today just as the good decisions and choices you made.
Individuals, countries and business can really understand their existence if they look back at what they have done, the steps and the actions they took and how it has brought them to their current positions in life. This way, we can understand the life we have lived all this while.
Live forward, understand life backward as an individual not blown around by today’s needs but challenged to make good choices by tomorrow’s picture envisaged. Any person who tries to plan his or her yesterday is not worth tomorrow. Anyone who plans today without thinking of tomorrow will remain successful in the present only without a future position, which will be critical when looking back in the future to examine the choices made.
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An individual who plans for today will only have yesterday to view in his past, a nation and a business that thinks about just 24 hours from now without thinking about the effect of that on the long term is in for troubles unimaginable. This may look simple and at the same time unclear for many, but I tell you, if you understand the meaning of this, you would guard against what you plan to do in 24 hours by looking at the very far future as well in that plan.
Individuals, businesses and countries that engage in incremental change decisions in planning for the future would only hit the rock when their plans fail to match the real issues of life.
Look closely at the words “TODAY” and “TOMORROW”, the former has just an “O” but the latter has three “Os”. This means that there are countless opportunities in tomorrow and the future than there are in today and the past. Short-term decisions without thinking about the future provide you only a few OPPORTUNITIES but thinking about the long-term or beyond the ordinary tomorrow gives you the luxury of different opportunities to harness to your advantage.
Stop thinking about yesterday and today, think about the bigger tomorrow, plan looking forward and beyond tomorrow, and you will look back one day with a bright smile and understand the life you have lived. If we plan for the future, we will take care of tomorrow and today’s needs. If we plan today and tomorrow, we have not future to look at today now a past cherish. “Life can only be understood backward, but it must be lived forward. Look into the absent future, plant the absent future, work at it, dream, work at it, inspire yourself, believe it, and you will live it
“When a hen lies on its eggs, it is not for fun. She looks forward to the future with every turn on her egg.” How are you living your life today? Have the future in mind and it will determine what you do today. Think of the long-term tomorrow and not the short term. Failing to plan, they say, is the same as planning to fail. Whatever happens today is based on the plans of the past. Look back in the future and you will see how well or bad you have lived this life. It’s time to put the shoulder to the wheel and make hay while the sun shines. Look not at the toils of today but the success of tomorrow. See you with your success story to tell in the future.
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