From a recent post to the Jack’s Winning Words blog come this thought for the day – “I can’t go back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” (Lewis Carroll)
Lewis Carroll wrote the nonsense poem Jabberwocky, which was included in his 1871 
novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Alice in Wonderland was sort of the Ready Player One of its day – an adventure in a made up land where anything and everything was possible. The line between virtual reality and actual reality exists in our minds and is a choice that we consciously make. Perhaps for some, that line also demarcates the boundary between sanity and insanity.
The truth in Carroll’s little quote is that we can never go back to who we were yesterday. We cannot un-learn the experiences that make us who we are today. We are faced with the reality that the only direction in which we can travel is forward. We may linger a while in the warm afterglow of a success in life or perhaps pause a while longer in the pain of a loss or defeat in life; but, in the end, we must move forward.
So, who are you now? What have you done with the experiences of your past? Did you learn from them? Were you able to forgive, if that was necessary? Are you able to put the praises for your successes in the proper perspective, so that they don’t delude you into thoughts of entitlement? Are you able to turn your experiences into knowledge and wisdom? Who are you now? Are you comfortable with who you have become?
A term that we often hear about successful, happy people is that they are “well grounded”, which Webster’s Dictionary defined as having a firm foundation. Having that firm foundation allows you to weather the storms of setbacks and to properly position and assimilate successes. A well-grounded person really remains the same person that they were yesterday, only with a little more knowledge and wisdom.
How do you build that foundation? I can think of no more solid foundation upon which 
to build your life than a strong belief in God. If you start with a strong, unwavering faith in God, you are free to build the character upon that faith that will serve you well in life. You will be able to absorb the defeats, disappointments or sorrows that life might through at you. You will be able to humbly accept the successes that you have in life as God’s gifts to you and not of your own making. You will be well grounded. You will always know who you are and in what direction you are headed.
Have a great, well-grounded week ahead.
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