As I have mentioned several times before here in the Daily Hustle, I had the incredible opportunity to have breakfast with John Wooden…
Well into his 90’s, this dude amazed me beyond all belief with his ability to recite not only pillars from his Pyramid of Success, but also entire passages of his favorite poems. One of his favorites was “Shut the Door on Yesterday” by Vivian Yeiser Laramore.:
“I have shut the door on yesterday,
Its sorrows and mistakes.
I have locked within its gloomy walls
Past failures and mistakes.
And now I throw the key away,
And seek another room.
And furnish it with hope and smiles,
And every spring-time bloom.
No thought shall enter this abode
That has a taint of pain.
And envy, malice, and distrust
Shall never entrance gain.
I have shut the door on yesterday
And thrown the key away.
Tomorrow holds no fear for me,
Since I have found today.”
For the record, I am not an expert poem analyst and didn’t stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but there is a lot on the plate here, so lets f*cking eat…
Basically, the poem recognizes that we all make mistakes, and in order for us to move on, it is imperative that we are able to “lock up” our failures and optimistically charge on without even a thought of past traumatic events or happenings…
“Envy, malice and distrust” are basically laid out as the roots of evil and foundation of failure… Yet, so long as we remain impenetrable force fields of positivity and love, no matter what has happened in the past, we will fire ahead without reservation or fear.
Most important is the last line of the poem that declares, “Since I have found today.”
Without immersing ourselves in the moment, the rest of the poem is just beautiful words of hollow instruction with absolutely NO ACTION.
Yet, when we are able to “find today” and live in the NOW, absolutely nothing else matters. It’s then and only then when we will be able to stop beating ourselves up over the past and SLAM the door right in yesterday’s face. 🚪
-EB