Learning from the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future

Q: I’ve made a big mess of my financial life and I wonder if I’ll ever get over it. This is the first Christmas I’ve had since falling on hard times and it’s not exactly merry. Do people as deep in the hole as I am ever get out?

A: Yes they do. But only if they learn.

Since it’s Christmas morning, let me borrow from Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol and say that in order to move beyond your past failures and present difficulties into a bright future, you’re going to have to learn…from the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come.

Learning from the Ghost of Christmas Past. Your past is full of failure and disappointment. Perhaps the failure was all of your own doing. Perhaps it came from circumstances beyond your control. Maybe there were some of both.

No matter. Don’t be defined or chained to your past. If you want to be different, you can be different. It will not be easy, and for that reason most won’t try. But if you want badly enough for your life to be different, you’ve got to start with you.

Not being chained to your past means there are some things that belong in your past…and not in your present. That may mean people that bring out the worst in you. Or self-destructive habits. Or toxic attitudes. What are those things that need to be left in your past?

Learning from the Ghost of Christmas Present. Today is all we have.

The past is a memory, for better or for worse. We can do nothing to change it, though we can learn from it.

The future is notoriously difficult to predict and even harder (impossible!) to control. The only thing we can do for the future is influence it, also for better or worse.

All we have is today. But…we have today! And we can act today to influence whatever future is coming our way.

Do you want better relationships in the future? Then determine what you can do today to influence that future outcome. Do you want a better financial life in the future? Then determine today what you can do to influence that future outcome.

Don’t burden yourself with trying to fix 20 years worth of mistakes in a day. Do what you can do today: Make a phone call. Save money this month. Pay an extra debt payment. Sign up for that course that will help advance your career.

Learning from the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The future will come at the end of a long string of todays. And that future will be heavily influenced by what we did (or didn’t) do during each of those todays.

You cannot be tomorrow what you will not be today.

If you want a future full of love, health and financial stability, it will be because you lived a long string of todays that were full of decisions that would lead to love, health and financial stability. You may not BE there today, but you must BEGIN heading in that direction today.

Christians celebrate Christmas because of their hope in a very special baby born in a manger. C. S. Lewis said, “The Son of God became man to enable men to become the sons of God.”

Whether or not that is your belief, you can at least appreciate the immense hope this faith brings into the life of one who embraces it.

May this be the Christmas that marks the beginning of a new hope in your own life…one marked by learning from your past, embracing the opportunities of your present and influencing the quality of your future.

Merry Christmas.

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