"To learn something new, one must revisit the old" -Chinese adage.
It is hard to convey the exact meaning of this adage in English, such is the complexity of the Chinese language that it covers much in simple vagueness. One can interpret it as meaning one must revisit the basics often to gain access to new wisdom. For the sake of our discussion, let me perhaps take the liberty in interpreting this adage in a chronological context:
The path towards a better tomorrow begins with the positive foundation laid by today's optimism, and cemented by endearing memories of yesterdays.
Too often we strive to gaze far into the future in hopes that we can shape our paths today. It is by no mistake that cultures across the globe shares in a rich tradition of fortune telling. From mere palm readings, drawing tarot cards, casting runes to our more sophisticated weather forecasts and stock market analysis, humans shares in a mutual fascination, no, an obsession, with forecasting the unknown. Ours is a society built upon looking ahead, and moving forward. As General Patton phrase it so eloquently in his famous speech to his tank commanders and infantry, we are ever advancing, never holding on to anything.
While it is good practice to be prepared and vigilant, to look far ahead as much as possible, there is one slight problem - metaphysically speaking we are severely myopic as a species. While we like to think that our intelligence is sufficient such that it can project the different possible outcomes and prepares us of what may, the reality is we are only smart enough to fool ourselves. The truth is the future overwhelms us simply because it is great and mysterious. We were never meant to know fully what lies ahead. We are ill equipped to handle the many variations of the future simply because we are not G-d and therefore cannot possibly forecast every resultant ripples of every minutia.
To stare into that great abyss of unknown is liken to a myopic child attempting to light his/ her way around grand auditorium with a mere candle. We see what is immediate to us, but it only serves to contrast and amplify darkness, and induce in us a uncontrollable fear of what lurks within it. Shadows dance upon the walls and prey upon our darker imagination, so much so that we become paralyzed and incapable of venturing forward. Our progress is therefore stymied not by the actual obstacles per se, but by our own vivid pessimism and eventual self-damnation as we feel the darkness of future close upon us.
This is not the way we should live. We should not be so set on looking ahead that we forget it is through stepping back that we are propelled forward. Instead of looking ahead and be consumed by what we know not, we should build our confidence by looking back and see how far we have come- by what we have learned. The pattern we seek lies not in the future, but in an understanding of our past and current experiences. It is through appreciation of what we have now, a thorough examination of what was done right in the past, that we gain the necessary wisdom to move forward step by step.
It is easy to yield to pessimism when we become affronted by darkness, by uncertainty and doubt. But if we can only step back, look back and realize that we leave a little spark each step of the way, the path ahead then becomes gradually illuminated. Our confidence then stems from the mental map that we have created for ourselves to back track. We can proceed forward because we know where we were. Hope is therefore not an abstract sustain in vacuum, but a very concrete concept nurtured by positive actions of today fueled by successes in the past. The future may shape our present, but it is the joint effort of the present and the past that actualize the future. So instead of looking forward, step back. It is so much easier to build upon what we have than neglect all that and surrender ourselves to dark despair.
Therefore, I urge you, instead of being depressed by what you don't know, be impressed instead by what you do know and build upon that.
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