“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana

I saw this quote this morning applied to the Dallas Cowboys. In their game against the Vikings yesterday, two of their veteran players blatantly ignored a penalty that contributed to their recent loss to the Titans. I can see where players could get penalized for holding. Blocking effectively is not as easy as it looks on television. But these guys purposely orchestrated some kind of leap frog celebration in the end zone following a touchdown. Such celebratory end zone antics are presently forbidden by the NFL. I can’t help but wonder if teens playing for the Granbury Pirates don’t have better sense. But perhaps I should take the plank out of my own eye before I start removing specks from the eyes of the Dallas Cowboys.

I often find myself repeating the mistakes of the past. To be very truthful I just don’t like to dwell on bygones. I remember a quote from The Lion King that says: You gotta put your behind in your past. That sounds good to me. Forget the past and press on to the future. The truth is that we need to put our past behind us. And the only way to accomplish such a feat is to be willing to remember it.

Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that the Cowboys are going to see the video of what took place in the end zone yesterday in places other than ESPN coverage on television? Why do I have a hunch that their coaches are going to have a very pleasant heart to heart discussion with all of their offensive players regarding the rules of the game? The not so distant past is no doubt going to be a formidable part of upcoming practices and team meetings.

It would serve me well not go to get too smug. It would actually behoove me to think in terms of my own team meeting. I would prefer to forget my mistakes and blatant antics that have been done despite a good knowledge of the rules. If I choose to block such things out of my mind, the same infractions will be incurred again and again and still again.

Today I choose to adopt a healthy view of the past. I am not going to berate myself. That is not helpful. But I also opt to not bury my head in the sand by acting as if the blunders of the past did not occur. I think I will actually dig up some of that old, smelly and repulsive stuff from the past and consider it as objectively as possible. My assumption is that I might just learn something. I know that I must remember the past, because if I don’t I am condemned to repeat it…