Ever watch a horror movie and see the young girl walking into a dangerous situation? You usually scream at the screen, “Don’t do it! Look behind you!” Sometimes in life I wish someone would scream at me, “Don’t do it!”

Actually, there are times when I hear those screams, but I don’t listen to the warnings. How easy it is to set our minds on something so much that we don’t see the danger surrounding us.

I am a firm believer that in life you get out of it what you put into it. I also believe that you can learn by making mistakes, but sometimes those mistakes can change your life completely. How do you cope with that?

Anger, jealousy, regret, hurt, dismay, turmoil, disgust, bitterness…we’re sometimes locked into an “emotional roller coaster” with no way of getting off the horrendous ride. I never liked roller coasters:(

I see these problems in my niece. She is at an age where boys are grabbing her attention, and so badly I want to yell, “DON’T DO IT!” I remember my mother doing the same for me and I used to think, “why can’t you let me make my own mistakes?” Looking back on it I wish I had listened to my mother in SO MANY instances (mom…thank you).

Now I’m in the middle of a big ugly rock and an even bigger and uglier hard place. I hear my friends/family saying, “DON’T DO IT! LOOK BEHIND YOU!” At this point all I want to do is look behind me at what was and what could have been, but the Bible tells me to do something very different. Check this out:

Philippians 3:13-14
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

I cannot change the past, but I can and do have a say in my future. Instead of looking behind me I am looking in front of me, and ultimately, I’m looking up (to the hills where my help comes from).
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Kari L. Brown offers mentoring to students and professionals struggling with success and maintaining a personal relationship with God. For more information visit www.karilbrown.com, follow @3SMentality and @karilbrown on Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook (www.facebook.com/3SMentality).