Hindsight blows.

Planning ahead isn’t for scatterbrained, procrastinator types. Plans are the bailiwick of logical, prudent folks who know what they’re doing and schedule accordingly. In my bailiwick, the future’s going to happen whether I have a plan or not, no need to get my undies in a bunch.

If I knew a piece of space junk had my name on it, how could I prepare anyway? Buy a sturdy umbrella? The future is variables, uknowns. Who has time to speculate about looming possibilities? I’m busy juggling the stuff I put off weeks ago, if not months. Stuff like mailing belated birthday cards with my 39¢ stamps. A planner I’m not, so things have a tendency to get hectic. This lifestyle demands an ‘in the moment’ approach.

The past no longer offers respite from the chaos of today and, for that, I blame hindsight. I couldn’t see an oncoming train without my glasses, but I can see back thirty years with perfect clarity. The tiniest indiscretion is as big as a mountain, bad decisions stand out like a polar bear in Jamaica. Oh, and try to miss the trail of disastrous consequences, it can’t be done. I want a selective memory, dammit.

The past would be a better place to visit if there were no such thing as hindsight. Memories are familiar territory, plus you were a lot younger and more fun. It’s a wonderful place to go, until hindsight kicks in and ruins everything. Why, what purpose does it serve? What’s the benefit of seeing how horrible decisions led to catastrophe and on and on? Aren’t the emotional scars enough of a reminder, do we need a loop of our failures running in our heads, too? I don’t.

If life was fair we could have hindsight removed, like cataracts or tonsils. I would like that, wouldn’t you? Then, yes, let’s start a petition, let’s write our congressional representatives. Wait, are they afflicted with hindsight, they seem remarkably unfettered by foresight, don’t you think? Bunch of lazy, no-good, low-down scoundr … Sorry, that’s a subject we can explore in another blog, a future blog. Let’s plan on it.

Copyright © Publikworks 2011.