The Golden Age by Jim Stovall
Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash
We human beings are too often plagued with what I would call “Greener Grass Syndrome.” This syndrome involves looking back in time and declaring a point in history as “the good old days” or projecting into the future and declaring “someday things will get better.” In reality, the only point in recorded history that matters to you and me is the current immediate moment we are living right now.
Yesterday is a canceled check, and tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is cash, so we need to recognize its value and spend it wisely. Virgil, the Latin poet, has been quoted as saying, “Today is the great golden age.” Virgil proved to be prophetic as the period surrounding his creative life is considered a golden age of thought and literature. But in Virgil’s life and the history of the world, that period emerged as a golden age because he believed it was.
Yesterday is a canceled check, and tomorrow is a promissory note
If, on the other hand, Virgil had believed that conditions during his time were not conducive to new thoughts and ideas, or if he was stuck in the mindset that things aren’t as good as they used to be in the past or would be in the future, we would likely have never heard of Virgil or been aware of the wisdom he brought to the world.
There are always a million reasons why we can’t succeed here and now, but here and now is all we have, and it is as fertile and filled with promise as we believe it to be. There are always obstacles and challenges. Somehow we convince ourselves that people living today face obstacles that no previous generation ever had to experience. There have always been wars, pandemics, and financial downturns. My late, great friend and mentor Paul Harvey said, “It’s times like these that remind us there have always been times like these.”
There are always critics, negative thinkers, and naysayers. They confront us daily just as they did during Virgil’s time. If Virgil were alive here in the 21st century, I’m quite certain he would declare the current moment in which you and I are living as a golden age. If you believe there are no opportunities available in the world today, your thoughts will make it so. And if you believe this is a golden age, your mind will manifest magic and miracles.
As you go through your day today, look for the positive elements that make this a golden age.
Today’s the day!
Jim Stovall is the president of Narrative Television Network as well as a published author of many books. He is also a columnist and motivational speaker. Follow him on Twitter (@stovallauthor) or Facebook (@jimstovallauthor). His latest book, coauthored with Greg S. Reid, is Passport to Success: Experience Next Level Living, now available wherever books are sold.