Sometimes simple wisdom can come from the most unlikely of places. I’ve always enjoyed reading the fortune cookies brought along with the check at most Chinese restaurants. The “fortunes” are generic and could easily fit anyone who receives them.
On a recent trip to a local restaurant, the fortune cookie my husband opened contained this simple bit of wisdom: Life must be lived forward, but can only be understood backwards.
Think about it. Life doesn’t give us the option of do-overs. We can’t undo our mistakes or revise our choices. We also don’t have a crystal ball into the future.
There are no guarantees about tomorrow or next year or the year after that. We can, however, learn from our mistakes and, using that knowledge, try not to make the same ones again.
Don’t waste time trying to undo the undoable. Live forward.