Remembering Your Past Could Save Your life

Has your mother ever told you, “you need to pay attention to history.”?

Well, mine has. And it just goes to show you how much I’ve dismissed it all my life.

I know history repeats itself. I know that you can learn a lot from it. But I also know that past results don’t equal future results.

You know, that little disclaimer stockbrokers put on their websites to make sure you’re not investing in the market with them with a mindset of absolute certainty. The stock market goes up and down — what goes up must go down so they say.

Well, my perspective on this whole “history” thing is very different. For one, I no longer worry about history repeating itself. If you think about it, what’s happened in history has been absolutely horrible: torture, slavery, wars, racism… and the list goes on.

There is no way in hell that we’re ever going back to a world where things are constantly hitting the fan and everyone is miserable all the time.

History, if anything, is a powerful lesson on what not to do. Not something that’s going to happen again and again forever, amen.

This also means that history has no power over us today — the humans of today. We know what we’re doing, we know where we’re going, and we’re tremendously organized.

So what does history have to do with today? Does it even have a place in our school curriculum?

Well, let me tell you, I for one believe that the school system should focus on history from the perspective of storytelling.

We’re not in a position to teach our kids history as if it really happened because, in the lives of our kids, it didn’t. It happened to their great great1? grandparents and it has nothing to do with us today.

Sure, history is interesting.

Sure, history is entertaining.

Sure, history can be funny.

But isn’t that what a story is?