Who doesn’t love the song “Summer of 69”, by Bryan Adams?
It was a rallying cry for an entire generation of wide-eyed youth, ready to change the world.
In 1969, I was in the 9th grade, and just discovering my place in the world.
It was not the best day of my life. Not by a long shot.
I have always been uncomfortable with the “best” attribution and comparison.
Best days? Best romance? Best trip? Best outfit? Best food group? Best house? Best kiss? The list endlessly goes on.
When anyone asks me about the best place I have ever traveled to, I always, without hesitation, reply, “the next one?”
Or the same with the inevitable photo question, “What is the best photo you have ever taken”? Answer… the next one.
You see, in my world, the false notion of “best” seems to always be looking back, at the past, to something we did.
And while this recalling and reminiscing is a vigorous and hearty part of life, it comes at a cost, because it keeps us in the past.
Perhaps a healthier approach, if you continue to insist on a “best” approach, is to think about the “best”… it’s still to come.
I am 67 years old. I honestly and sincerely believe that, if anything, my best is still to come.
I believe this will all my being. I try to live like this too.
Yes, of course, with full embrace and esteem, we should honor, cherish and celebrate every moment and memory we ever had and hold on to in life.
But life, at its core, is seasonal. It happens in stages and phases. It is periodic. Here today, gone tomorrow.
Your best is far from over. Believe in this. Believe in yourself. Believe in your future.
Professionally speaking, as I honestly look at my own body-of-work, I’m deeply filled with thoughts of gratitude, buoyancy, thrill, chill, pleasure, and treasure. Click.
But I have so much more ticking and more clicking to accomplish. The best will keep coming and coming and coming. I see it, I feel it, and I wait for it.
I don’t spend too much time mulling and chewing over the past. The past is the past. I can’t change it. It’s gone forever.
But I can influence today, tomorrow, and every day after that.
These are the best days of my life.
It’s ironic, the healthy recollections and remembrances of my past, are the very fuel and fire, that motivate and inspire what is to come.
The best days of your life don’t live or lie in the past. They live in the wind and rhythms of today and tomorrow.
Click,
Jack
