Attributed to countless persons and tweeked in many ways, the old adage goes something like this...
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.”
In the song "Tell Your Heart to Beat Again" (written by Bernie Herms, Randy Phillips and Matthew West) and recorded most recently by Danny Gokey, this saying is interpreted in this way...
"Yesterday's a closing door
You don't live there anymore
Say goodbye to where you've been
And tell your heart to beat again"
In other words, don't hold on to your past, get on with today.
As with most pithy advice and sayings, these things are easier said than done. When all is well, we naturally leave yesterday behind, enjoy today and look fondly toward tomorrow. But what about when things are going all wrong? It seems impossible to let go of the pain of yesterday, to make any sense of today, and to feel hopeful about tomorrow.
But hope isn't a feeling. Hope is...
