Forget The Past and Focus On The future
by Adrian Brown | on May 23, 2012
Forget the past and focus on the future by Adrian Tea Brown. My friend Evans would tell me that yesterday is a cancelled check, tomorrow is a promissory note but today is live cash, invest it wisely. I also learnt that the past is history, the future is a mystery but today is a gift that is why we call it the present.
We cannot change the past but we should learn valuable lessons from it. Pastor Jack Hayford of Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California said: The past is a dead issue, and we can’t gain any momentum moving toward tomorrow if we are dragging the past behind us.”
Lessons from the past in our lives and from other people who overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles should inspire us to go forward with passion and purpose. I want to look at three individuals who have given me unspeakable motivation to face the future; Booker T. Washington, Helen Keller and Franklin Roosevelt.
Booker T. Washington:- Booker T. Washington was born exactly one hundred years before me in 1856. He was an American educator, author, orator and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915. Representative of the last generation of black leaders born in slavery, he spoke on behalf of blacks living in the South.
He was born in a slave hut in dire poverty with no regular schooling; at age nine he began working, first in a salt furnace and later in a coal mine. Determined to get an education, he traveled hundreds of miles under great hardship until he arrived broke, tired, and dirty to be enrolled at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia (1872). He worked as a janitor to help pay expenses. After graduation he returned to his community, where he taught children in a day school and adults at night.
In 1881 he was selected to head a newly established normal school for blacks at Tuskegee, an institution with two small converted buildings, no equipment which he transformed into a phenomenal model school of industrial education.
Booker T. Washington was the most famous black man in America between 1895 and 1915. He was also considered the most influential black educator of the late 19th and early 20th centuries insofar as he controlled the flow of funds to black schools and colleges. In September 1895, Washington became a national hero.
Helen Keller:- The life journey of Helen Keller is one of the greatest stories of the 20th century. A journey from a child unable to communicate due to multiple disabilities, to her exalted place on the world stage as the famous global citizen she became.
Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama on 27th June, 1880. At the age of one year and 7 months she suffered an acute congestion of the stomach and brain which left her deaf and blind. However, Helen proved to the world that being deaf and blind could not prevent her from developing a mind-set to achieve the impossible.
When Helen was six, her mother contacted Dr. Alexander Graham Bell whom she had heard was working on devices to help the deaf. Bell met with Helen and her parents and suggested that they contact the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts. In March 1887 Anne Sullivan a teacher at the institute, became Helen’s teacher.
By age 10, Helen had mastered Braille as well as the manual alphabet and even learned to use the typewriter. By the time she was 16, Helen could speak well enough to go to preparatory school and to college. In 1904 she graduated from Radcliffe College. The teacher stayed with her through those years, interpreting lectures and class discussions to her.
Helen Keller, the little girl, became one of history’s remarkable women. She dedicated her life to improving the conditions of blind and the deaf-blind around the world, lecturing in more than 25 countries on the five major continents. Wherever she appeared, she brought new courage to millions of blind people.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt:- Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, into a wealthy family. He was a brilliant student and was outstanding at Harvard University and Columbia Law Schools. He became the 32nd president of the USA in 1933, and was the only president to be elected four times. Roosevelt led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II, and greatly expanded the powers of the federal government through a series of programs and reforms known as the New Deal.
In the summer of 1921, Roosevelt became seriously ill. He was eventually diagnosed as suffering from poliomyelitis. He was confined to a wheelchair and was never able to walk again. Frances Perkins who was Roosevelt Industrial Commissioner, believed that his illness changed his personality and in doing so, made him into a better man.
She said, “Roosevelt underwent a spiritual transformation during the years of his illness. I noticed when he came back that the years of pain and suffering had purged the slightly arrogant attitude he had displayed on occasion before he was stricken. The man emerged completely warmhearted, with humility of spirit and with a deeper philosophy. Having been to the depths of trouble, he understood the problems of people in trouble.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, four time president of the United States, led the nation out of the period of economic crisis known as the Great Depression (1929–39) and later into World War II (1939–45). Before he died, he cleared the way for peace, including the establishment of the United Nations.
Success is not how much you get but how much you give. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. Your past does not determine your future, and remember, no matter what you’ve faced in the past, you have the ability to overcome it. No matter what’s your age you still have room to improve yourself. One sure way to improve yourself is with Empower Network where you take four simple steps every day. See Empower Network for your self- improvement.
About The Author: Adrian Brown
Adrian T Brown is a savvy online business entrepreneur country boy from Jamaica. He has a persistent personality that sweep aside all obstacles. Adrian's health is his greatest wealth Adrian has struggled many years learning how to be healthy, wealthy and happy. He has almost mastered that art now and is helping others to do same Health Wealth and Happiness Do you know how he makes most of his income? His email list that does it. It's as close as you can get to printing money on demand. You can start building your own list literally on autopilot This is the three C formula Create Capture Convert Click the link, put in your best email, watch video and get started now. I was born to win, what about you?
