Daily Inspiration 2-8-14

"Let history be what it was, 

with its blessings and errors. 

The only reason to pay any attention to history 

is to make the now and the future better." 

 -- Alan Cohen 

Alan Cohen is a prolific and inspiring author that I only found in the last two or three years. He and John C Maxwell in their writings share a lot of stories that they pick up in their travels and I love the way that all works in presenting the meat of the message.

I also subscribed to a years worth of daily messages called Wisdom for Today from Alan Cohen, and so many of them resonated in various ways with me in my own travels. The quote above came from one of these called, Leave the Note in History.

In it he quotes two musicians. One is Dominic Miller, a guitarist with Sting's band, and he is quoted as saying, "Life is like playing a piece of music in concert. If you make a mistake, you can't go back to replay it and you can't afford to grind about it. Any time you spend thinking or worrying about it will only detract from the note you are currently playing and possibly lead to more mistakes."

Then, he quotes my favorite songwriter and musician, Sir Paul McCartney, who said, "Some people thought the White Album could have been better. But I'm not the kind of person who goes over things already done. Come on, it was the Beatles' White Album!"

Then Alan talks about his own books by saying, "Sometimes I read books I wrote earlier in my career and I realize that I wouldn't make certain statements now in the way I made them then, and there are passages I am tempted to correct and update. Then I realize that that book was a sincere and perfect expression of where I was on my journey at the time. Moreover, there are people reading that book for the first time now, and it is a match to where they are on their journey today, and it is helpful to them."

I absolutely loved this last quote and his statement resonates very nicely with me in several ways. One, I have just read one of his very early books that isn't even in print anymore that is available on the Kindle. It is titled, Joy Is My Compass, and it is a wonderful book for me where I am right now. I have enjoyed it so much, I am reading it again.

Two, I have published two books. One was self-published and I have often thought of rewriting it since it was written and produced in March of 1990 and I am so much more skilled as a writer and thinker now than I was then. I recently found a copy of that book titled, Accepting the Sales Challenge. I've offered a pdf version for free on one of the Commercial Truck Success websites, www.comtrk.com under Training Resources. Yet, I've just now allowed myself to let that stand as it is and never again think about rewriting it because it was perfect at the time. It was the best I had in me at the time, and according to others who have read it, the book had an impact on them.

Whatever we have done in the past is done. We are constantly making new choices today and will do so in the future when it becomes today. If we can just let go of what was as it was and celebrate that, allow it to be okay, and even perfect the way it was, it is more powerful for our lives today because it frees up our focus to enjoy the present as fully as is possible. What a blessing that is for all of us.


Today, Right Now Is Where We Are. Be There. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by allowing yourself the luxury of personal joy. That is even more important than spreading it; however, when you have personal joy, it is impossible for that to not have an effect on others.