What's More Important--Your Past, Present or Future?

Composed in Richmond, Virginia--

What's more important--the past, present or future?

A House Committee of the United States government decided to condemn Turkey this week for its participation in the genocide of Armenians that occurred during World War I.  I'm not sure why it's taken almost 100 years for legislators to take a stand on this issue, but many argue that their timing couldn't be worse. 

As a result of the condemnation, Turkey recalled its United States ambassador and it could be getting warmed up for some aggressive action toward the U.S. 

Should we overlook a bad thing that happened a long time ago or should we dwell on it longer?  When it comes to international politics, the answer is not always easy. 

Allow me to ask a simpler question: What's more important to you -- the past, present or future?

The answer may be easy if you are quite old or newly born, but for those of us in the middle of the game, this riddle is a genuine head-scratcher.

Let's do a little word substitution and see if we can get a sharper perspective.  Let's say the past can be equated with experience, that the present is about talent and that the future is a result of ambition.  That is:

Past = Experience

Present = Talent

Future = Ambition

Then the question might become, what's more important--experience, talent or ambition?

My friend Duane Scherer is a talented artist.  Although he has lots of experience creating and marketing his unique clocks, Duane believes that the future may be most important.  I agree.

Experience and talent, like the past and present, are already captured.  It's what we do with our experience (building on the past) and talent (springboarding from the present) that will marshal our ambition (so we can leverage the future).