Recently, I watched some movies and was astonished at the foolishness of characters in them. They found themselves in certain situations that ultimately led to their demise. I sat back on the couch and watched them do the stupidest things. On the outside, I was quiet. But on the inside, I was screaming at the top of my voice, “Don’t go in there!” No matter how much I wanted them to do or not do something, they did the opposite. It made me so upset. I wondered how they could be so stupid.

However, the even bigger idiot was me, expecting a different outcome from movies I had already seen numerous times. I knew the storylines written long ago. The movies were already filmed. The characters’ minds were already made up. No matter how badly I wanted them to make a new decision, they simply could not. I can’t believe how many times this happens to me when watching movies that I have already seen. Each time viewing, there is hope that the characters will choose differently.

It turns out I actually do the same thing when looking into my past. It is like a movie, playing the same plot, with the same characters, making the same bad decisions. When I replay the movies in my mind, I find myself asking a question. Why? No amount of hope is ever going to change those scenes because they have already been made. I can pray for them to change. I can hope they will. I can even beg for them to change. Yet, nothing seems so permanently written as our past.

What are we to do with these movies from our past? Study and learn from them. Then put those movies back on the shelf to collect dust! If you play the old movies repeatedly, nothing will ever change in your life. You cannot look into the past and see a different outcome. What you can do is look ahead and think hard about what movies you will want to replay someday. If you want to change the outcome of your life, write a different story from here on out. Today’s decisions will usher in success or failure. Make new movies, ones that won’t make you scream beneath your breath.

It’s true your past has already been written. But life isn’t over yet. If it is time to end one movie and begin another, my question is this. What are you waiting for?