Exact Change

If you are old enough to remember actually buying something with cash, you probably have run into the situation where you have something like a 5 and 10 dollar bill on you, but the item you’re buying costs $5.01! In lieu of having that extra penny, you hand the cashier a 10 dollar bill, and get back 4 grams worth of dollar bills and 36.5 grams worth of coins. This is quite a weighty burden. One that the mind rejects, but must often accept upon registering the completely non-empathetic look on the cashier’s face. (Again, if you are old enough, you may recall a time when the cashier would happily spot you that penny.) Upon receiving your change, your mind might have an ever-so-brief moment of euphoria, as, indeed, you do have a penny!  But it is only as a result of not having exact change that you find yourself in possession of that newly acquired penny.

So it is in life: The lessons we learn from the mistakes we make are no cause for celebration for the things we break.

Your mind may experience a brief moment of euphoria to the contrary, and your mind may, at times, be correct – there are, of course, times when it is not too late to learn from one’s mistakes and salvage the life we know. But beware: Sometimes it is the absolute sacrifice of the life we know that brings us the most salient and poignant lessons, and these can only be applied to the future. The very thing you miss by virtue of nostalgia, the very thing you want to return to, is no longer there. To return to what is no longer there, in hopes of applying the very lessons that were born of its very death, is a futile exercise indeed, so it is worth a little time and reflection before looking into the reflection of time; especially time past.