Writing Your Own History

History has a way of putting things in perspective that is very hard to achieve in the short term.  An event in your life that seems catastrophic this week pales in comparison to the events over a decade of time.  And no matter how hard you try to manage and control the story, some events will alter your history whether you like it or not.

Take for example my divorce back in the early 90's.  I was devastated.  My whole wonderfully-planned life as I had planned came crashing to a halt when it collided with my husband's newly-planned life.  I described it as the end of a chapter, and yes, still today...almost 20 years later, I still think the "D-word" event represents a chapter in my life story.  Maybe the chapter isn't as lengthy or as meaty as I may have once thought because there are other juicier stories in my personal history story now.

And maybe President Obama will get off his fat, pompous ass and take on the responsibility of a comprehensive immigration program and the American public will understand exactly why Governor Brewer was left with little choice than to try to make things better in Arizona by signing the 1070 bill into law, thus forcing the Federal government to do its job. If he was successful in an election year, history would be kind to him for placing the public good over partisan politics.

History is funny, too, because no matter hard you try to affect what your history, you cannot.  I have tried to paint as nice a picture on the whole divorce topic for a myriad of reasons, but when I am dead and gone, there is little I can do.  The story lies in the facts and the outcomes surrounding the event.  Obama should understand that even as eloquent as he speaks, the actions are really the only things that matter when it comes to history.

So what can you do to affect your history?  I'd say that the best thing to do is to try to always look in the long-term and what the big picture shows and to do what's best in these terms.  Be faithful to yourself and what you believe in, no matter what the consequences.  But, always be willing to listen and learn from others and thus, be able to change your beliefs and who you are inside. 

One can only hope that our poiliticians can be big boys and girls and do the hard things such as comprehensive immigration reform and once and for all have a system that works.  The history books are waiting.............................................