You never called or wrote me, you just up and disappeared
Nobody knew what happened
Where you been for all these years
Now trouble’s what you’re lookin’ like
Cause trouble’s where you been
And I can see the kind of trouble you could get me in
You better pay attention to every word I said
Cause you’re wanted by the police
And my wife thinks you’re dead.
So goodbye to you baby I’m glad we’ve got to talk
But I’m faithful to my wife and I don’t ever break the law
I don’t know where you’re headed for
But I know where you been
We’re reminisced now let’s just go our separate ways again
Go find another ex-sweetheart to hang around instead
Because you’re wanted by the police
And my wife thinks you’re dead
– Lyric from “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead” by Junior Brown
Ever get visited by an old lover? Me neither. But, this song by Junior Brown (check YouTube for the video…it’s pretty funny) is a reminder that we do occasionally get visited by old thoughts, old behaviors, old “skeletons,” that try to convince us that we should look back….go back…slide back.
Forward is more better.
If we’re serious about growth and change (and difference making!), we have to understand the lessons that came before, and we have to leverage the good parts of them while cutting the other parts loose. And, whether they want to go away or not, we have to let the parts that hold us back “die.”
Marcus Buckingham, in his StrengthsFinder® theme “Context,” sort of channels Junior’s lyric, “I don’t know where you’re headed for, but I know where you been…” inasmuch as he reminds us that the past informs the future – not that it sets precedent, but that if lays a foundation for what we must do next in order to honor our past, and to maximize our future.
What we do next is what matters most.
It’s how we get where we’re going.
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