And yet on closer scrutiny, there's a very real likelihood that
that'll become an undistinguished opening into a world of
hurt instead. How so Laurence? Like so: like in order to
be careful, like in order to learn from the past, like in order to
not let it (ie whatever it is) happen again, in order
to learn from all my mistakes, my survival machinery ie my defense
mechanism makes plans for encountering them again in the
future. And so to that end, it files (if you will)
a record of everything that happened in the past in the
future. That means who I'm being in the present is not only
given by my past. It's now given by my past filed in the
future as well. Succinctly, my present is now given both
by my past and by my constrained future. That means in
just getting by, my life is constrained at both ends.
It's this filing error if you will, which not only
guarantees that my present is given by my past. It's worse than
that. It guarantees that my present is given by my constrained
future as well. And even worse than that, it ensures that my
future, being constrained, is no longer open to being invented
newly. That would be a world of hurt to live into.
Now the thing about "a world of hurt to live into" is that without
the possibility of transformation, that's probably all we can ever
expect. Yes we can change it: by adding compensations,
distractions,
excuses and avoidances, all of which may make some
difference, and yet all of which simply rivet us tighter to their
background
world of hurt
platform.
A future that's closed to being invented newly, is a world of hurt
to live into. Now
consider
the possibility of not having to live into a world of hurt just
by correcting a simple filing error. That's nothing short of
miraculous.
So here's a prudent thing for you to
consider:
instead of filing the past in the future, file the past in the
past. Look: isn't that where it belongs? Doesn't
the past belong in the past? And in retrospect, how
obvious is that! I mean, how
forehead-slappingly obvious is that! Isn't that where
the past should be filed? Where else should you file
the past, other than in the past? Where else
but in the past! An untransformed life (it could be
said) is one in which the past is mechanically,
autonomically filed in the future. A
transformed life it could be said on the other hand,
is one in which the past is filed in the past, leaving the future
empty, with nothing filed in it ie with nothing
filling it. Correcting this simple filing error (if you will)
ensures that
the future is open
to being invented like a possibility. So again in
retrospect, I ask you: how very obvious is that?! How
forehead-slappingly obvious is that?! Wow. Really.
When my future is empty, with nothing filed in it ie with nothing
filling it, it's open to be invented newly. When my future is
filled with my past, I'm always stepping into something, I'm
always stepping over something, I'm always stepping
through something. In contradistinction, when my
future is empty, with nothing filed in it ie with no past filed in
it ie with nothing / no past filling it, I'm stepping into
nothing, unconstrained. I'm
free to be and free to
act.
Werner's
distinctions and prognostications are all valuable, every one of
them. But this one, particularly and especially this one,
his exhortation to
consider
filing the past in the past not the future, at least to
consider
trying that on for size, leaving the future not predictably
given by and constrained by the past, but rather leaving it empty
and open with nothing in it to impede and / or constrain its being
invented newly, is a home run struck clean out of the ballpark.
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