as time passes
a new year awaits
a birthday just passed
but maybe with age
too often I find myself
looking backward
rather then forward

thinking what if I had done
this rather then that
what if what happened
hadn't happened
why did I make
the choices I made
but usually reality takes over

the past is after all
just that, it has passed
can't change it
try as I might
and besides I survived
the mistakes I made
and even the mistakes others made

and whether I'm
the man I hoped to be
I am the man
that I have become
so dwelling on the past
is pointless
the future awaits

but again age intervenes
thinking 10 years
into the future
is also pointless
I saw an ad
where are you going to
be in 10 years

but that's not the
point of life I think
where am I going to be
tomorrow
what must I do
to not only survive it
but to achieve something good

Life is a series of challenges
and yes we do carry
the baggage from  the past
our past has made us what we are now
but tomorrow will make us
what we can be
day by day, one step at a time