Here’s a tenant from The Optimist’s Creed that sounds wonderfully liberating in theory, but, if we’re being entirely honest, is about as easy to execute as juggling flaming chainsaws while reciting Shakespeare: “To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.” Forget the mistakes? My dear friends, my brain has an almost supernatural ability to catalog, replay, and offer unsolicited commentary on every single misstep, gaffe, and questionable decision I’ve ever made. Forgetting them sounds less like an optimistic goal and more like a form of selective amnesia that might require medical intervention.
Now, before you imagine a world populated by individuals perpetually repeating their blunders because they’ve wiped their mental hard drives, let’s consider what this tenant actually implores. It’s certainly not an endorsement of heedless repetition. The universe, in its infinite wisdom, tends to offer rather persistent reminders if we fail to learn the lessons. No, this isn’t about scrubbing the memory banks clean of every regrettable moment. That would be both impossible and, frankly, rather foolish, as mistakes are often the most effective, albeit painful, teachers.
And let’s be honest, wouldn’t you rather be building something new than curating a museum of your own regrets?
What this tenant demands is a conscious, wilful detachment from the emotional residue of past errors. It’s the difference between learning from a stumble and allowing that stumble to define your entire gait. It means acknowledging the blunder, perhaps even having a good, self-deprecating laugh at its absurdity, extracting the valuable lesson, and then, crucially, refusing to let the shame, guilt, or fear of repeating it become a perpetual anchor dragging you down. Our past failures can be incredibly verbose, constantly whispering “You can’t” or “Remember what happened last time?” This tenant is the defiant shout back: “I heard you, I learned, now move along.”
“To press on to the greater achievements of the future” isn’t a vague hope; it’s a dynamic imperative. It recognizes that our energy, focus, and drive are finite resources. If we expend them meticulously reliving every poor decision, every missed opportunity, every spectacularly awkward social interaction from yesteryear, we have precious little left for the arduous, often messy, work of building something new and better. It’s an optimistic call to action, a pragmatic understanding that while dwelling on the past offers a perverse kind of comfort, it absolutely stifles growth. The future, with all its glorious uncertainties and potential triumphs, demands our presence, our ingenuity, and our unburdened determination. It’s about directing your gaze forward, even when the rearview mirror offers a morbidly fascinating spectacle.
So, while achieving complete amnesia about every past mistake might be a feat best left to those with truly remarkable cognitive filtering abilities, this tenant is far more profound than a simple instruction to “get over it.” It’s a challenging, yet incredibly liberating, invitation to process, learn, and then intentionally release the mental and emotional baggage that keeps us tethered to yesterday’s shortcomings. It’s about daring to believe that your greatest achievements are always ahead of you, not behind, and that the only true mistake is refusing to step forward because you’re too busy reliving a misstep. And let’s be honest, wouldn’t you rather be building something new than curating a museum of your own regrets?
What past “mistake” do you find most challenging to release its emotional grip on your present?
Justin Lockridge 
Leave a comment