Lowest form of conversation

I remember a few years ago I watching the Soprano's series. In one of the episodes, Tony Soprano and two of his henchmen were reminiscing. A darkness comes over Tony, and when asked what's wrong, he says, "Remember when is the lowest form of conversation".

It's ok to remember the past. We have to remember our past so we don't repeat the same mistakes in the present. We cannot forget.

It's not the remembering that's the problem, it's the living in the past. To live in the past, talking about what use to be means you're looking too much in the rearview mirror. It may suggest when we spend too much remembering that we are forgetting our present or our future. Life was lived, but we need to live on.

"Remember when's" are fun. They are nostalgic, but the conversation ultimately needs to change.

I get the "remember when's" out of my system every year with an annual get-together with old childhood friends. The times are fun. I get to relive my past and listen to old stories. The old stories are always the same, but the laughs never are. I've been doing that once a year for the past 16 years. I wouldn't trade that day away. In fact I look forward to it every year.

We cannot live in the past.

My dad and I used to go hunting together. We would walk to our deer blind before sunrise, then wait until daylight for the deer to emerge. One morning, as we creeped along the dirt road, our flashlights fell upon a new set of deer tracks. I was excited. If there were deer on the road, maybe we'll get a shot this morning. I started thinking about what might be. In his wisdom, my dad said, "Don't get excited, the tracks taste muddy".

Dad basically told me not to live in the future either.

I get caught up thinking about what could be, what I will do and what I want. It's what drives me forward all of the time. I try not to live in the future, and it's my wife who constantly brings me back. Sometimes I feel like Leonardo DiCaprio's character in "Inception". It's so easy to get lost in this forward thinking mindset.

The present is the only place life happens. We can prepare for the future. We can set goals for the future. But life happens right now.

I could go on for hours, but my kids are waiting for me. I need to spend it with them today.

Ta ta for now.