We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it. – Rich Warren

One of my least favorite things to hear is, “we’ve always done it that way.” This doesn’t bother me because something “isn’t new.” It bothers me because it reflects no thought or reflection. If I was told, “It has worked really well is the past so we are doing it again,” now that would be a very different feeling.

We learn through experience. We study history – the experiences of others – so that we can learn and reflect. We consider the cause and effect of past events; we analyze how others have responded and examine the outcomes. We aren’t prisoners of our past, we are students of it.

We seek to improve what has worked in the past; our growth mindset requires us to build skill and make a difference. We are blessed . . . we have the opportunity to learn from the past as we create the future.