FiredUp: We can’t live in the past

Did you read your water bill last week? I know you probably read the amount that you owe, but did you notice anything else?  Each month in the lower left corner, I will be including an informational or inspirational saying. This month’s was “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”

The first thing we have to do in order to look to the future of our community is to let go of the past.

In my new favorite book, “13 Ways to Kill Your Community,” the author states that, “Attitude is what communities live and die by, and few of those attitudes are more successful at killing a community than the one that has you always living in the past.”

Whether talking about the past glories of the community, or negative things like family disputes and high school sports rivalries from 30 years ago…those things need to be put back where they belong – in the past! Those things already happened. Many of them can’t be changed. Words can’t be unspoken, I understand that, but if we want to move forward, and it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about the work of a church committee, school board, city council, or even your relationship with your neighbor, NOTHING will be accomplished if everyone is carrying around all these hard feelings and grudges. All of this old baggage does nothing but weigh us down – and make it nearly impossible for those who are trying to better the community.

No community is ever going to be all sunshine and roses. There is always going to be opposition to progress and fear of change. But, we can’t let a few negative attitudes bring the entire community down!

See the original version of this article here and more of Laura’s inspirational writing here (the ones entitled “Community Development”).