Isn't It Pretty To Think So?

The Lightkeepers Journal

February 26

"Yes, isn't it pretty to think so?" Those seven words have been darting, disappearing, and then reappearing all around. That phrase may ring a bell, give you the feels, or make you say bullshit. Perhaps you have never read Hemingway, possibly think him an overrated and horrid human or maybe you admire some of his work. Truth be told, Hemingway and his words are human. Sometimes great, sometimes not so great, and other times detestable. Those seven little words, the ending to The Sun Also Rises, serve to remind us of what could have been but never will be.

Life is filled with so many Isn't it pretty to think so moments:

I wish I had spent more time with those I love…Isn't it pretty to think so?

I wish I had worried less…Isn't it pretty to think so?

I wish I had forgiven more…Isn't it pretty to think so?

I wish I had stood up for myself…Isn't it pretty to think so?

I wish I had lived my own life…Isn't it pretty to think so?

As that novel's ending speaks of what cannot be but if it could have been, it "would be a damned good time" should serve as a reminder that everyone will be left with "Isn't it pretty to think so" moments and people in life. We all know there will be regrets in life, we have them but where we fail is by doing nothing to prevent more of them.

No one has a Tardis nor is Doc Brown with his DeLorean just down the street, and no one is arriving from the Alphaverse to teach a path to a better life. So there is no going backward, just lonesome memories coupled with isn't it pretty to think so. What can change is how we handle today, tomorrow, and the times to come.

The power to change, and craft a better future is not a superpower given to a select few bitten by radioactive spiders but all of us have this ability, we just need to learn to use it. No matter what your isn't it pretty to think so past is, remember one's personal history is like a drive down a city street on a cold, dank, winter's evening. The regrets are in the rearview mirror slowly fading in a dark, light, dark, light, pattern determined by the placement of street lamps. Driving down that lamp-lit street, rearview regrets will fade away into black, while the headlights illuminate the future. The trick of it all is having the courage to steer at the oncoming challenge. The impact made may be empowering or momentarily stunning. A dazing effect is shake-off-able allowing the journey to continue without another isn't it pretty to think so clogging up the mirror.

Frank Sinatra crooned, "regrets, I've had a few, but then again too few to mention" and glasses should be raised for purposefully living so that regrets are too scarce to merit discussion. It is time to take charge, and do what we truly desire, so rather than say isn't it pretty to think so, our behavior has changed so looking backward there is hardly anything to note.

Do not wait, life, your life, is happening now.

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