History in the Making

History in the Making

His·to·ry   [his-tuh-ree, his-tree]  noun.

1. the branch of knowledge dealing with past events.

2. a continuous, systematic narrative of past events as relating to a particular people, country, period, person, etc., usually written as a chronological account; chronicle: a history of France; a medical history of the patient.

3. the aggregate of past events.

4. the record of past events and times, especially in connection with the human race.

5. a past notable for its important, unusual, or interesting events: a ship with a history.

Greetings folks and welcome to another edition of “The Diplomat’s Report”. I know I left you high and dry last week but I promise I have an excuse. It was a terrible week. Between a never ending commute, tight deadlines at work and life, it was next to impossible to publish last week. But I’m here now.

This past Monday we celebrated the 57^th inauguration of the 44^th President of the United States. We also celebrated the day we remember the birth date of the Father of the Civil Rights Movement, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On the day we celebrated the second inauguration of the nation’s first Black President, we celebrated the birth of a man assassinated for his belief in the notion “that all men are created equal.” While we commemorated the successful transition of power, we also celebrated the man who helped make that transition of power to a person of color possible. It’s historic.  

History is the branch of knowledge dealing with past events. It’s the study of things that happened that provides us with an appreciation of the present and a better understanding of things to come. We make history every day that we take a breath and every day that the date on the calendar changes. What we did yesterday is now history and what we do today will soon become history as well.

Therefore, yesterday shouldn’t be discarded with the trash never to be seen, heard from, or spoken of again. Yesterday should be treated like a memory, gone but not forgotten, because no matter how good or bad yesterday was there’s always a lesson to be learned. Yesterday a kid learned that 1+1=2, another learned how to spell his own name, while another learned not to touch the hot stove; all valuable lessons. Armed with that knowledge these kids can do quadratic equations, read and write novels and not burn their hand off.

What we do today will be history tomorrow. We can’t waltz through life as if nothing we do matters, as if nothing we do will affect anything or anyone else, or as if nothing we do will impact tomorrow because it will. Every day that we’re alive we’re making history. That is why we should learn to appreciate both the good and the bad events that occur in our lives. While we often have great days, we also have days that absolutely suck; however, we need to appreciate them. From the less than desirable days and events we learn the bounds of our strength, our threshold for pain and that what doesn’t kill us will, in fact, make us stronger. From the great days that make us smile, laugh and enjoy life we learn to appreciate success, we learn to smile and we learn what happiness really means to us. That is why we must consider both the good and the bad times to be important contributions to history. In every event, every setback, every comeback, every firing and every bad grade there is a lesson. What we choose to do with that lesson is on us. We can choose to take the good and the bad, pay close attention to the information they provide and allow it to shape our history or we can choose to ignore it; the choice is yours. But my advice is that we should be careful to note that history ignored and/or forgotten is history that is bound to be repeated.

Don’t let history define you or deter you. Write your own history and define yourself. Until next time, Stay Up and Be Blessed!