Janus

By Loudon Dodd

Janus is a Roman god with two faces that look into opposite directions.  The month of January gets its name from Janus.  Probably the calendar makers thought that the new year should prompt us to look back at the past year as we welcome the new year.  The past is a good teacher.  Those who refuse to learn from their past are condemned to repeat it. 

But the past may not always be the ideal teacher.  If you have a tendency to ask yourself why this happened to you, the past is better forgotten.  Most of the time, there are no answers to the question why.  Things go wrong as they often do.  Wrongs outnumber rights in our life.  We often err.  Others err too.  Errors hit us from every side all the time.  We’ve got to accept them as inevitable parts of life, as faithful companions.

Learn the lessons from those errors and move ahead.  Like Janus, look back only to remember the lessons.  Forget the hurts and the pains.  Forget the whys.  Ask how.  How can I solve this problem that I am facing now?  If the past experiences can help, look back at them.  If they cannot, look ahead.  Never ask: Why did this happen to me?  Ask: How can I solve this now?

The past and the future are like the two faces of Janus.  They look into opposite directions.  And both are there, whether you like it or not.  Which one are you going to use more?  That’s the question.  And the answer is vital.

Philosopher Kierkegaard said, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”  Understand, but move on.  If you are stuck in the past, how will you move ahead into the future?

What makes us stuck in the past is some pain, some hurt, some memory.  Tonight when you wake up during your sleep, when everyone else at home is fast asleep, when the world around is very quiet, imagine that a miracle happens.  A miracle happens to you.  A fairy or an angel or your god appears to you and says, ‘Your problem is gone.’  Just imagine.  The fairy won’t come.  But we can create the fairy in our imagination.  Just imagine that your problem is solved.  How is your life going to be different after your problem is solved?  Start living that life from the morning.  Sometimes miracles are as simple as that.

Let Janus keep both the faces.  The present miracle can change the past too. Janus is the god of endings and beginnings.  Some old things have to end so that new things can begin.

PS. #BlogchatterA2Z - Letter J