Learn from our mistakes, repeat our victories
February, 2013
By Jeff Pinyot
The other night, one of my children asked me why history is so important. I said profoundly, “History is important so that we learn not to repeat our mistakes.” Ever since saying that, I thought of how incomplete my statement was. Yes, it is true, but there is so much more to it.
My wife, my oldest son, and I went to see the movie “Lincoln” the other night. Despite wondering whether had the movie come out a few weeks before the election, might it have swayed voting from one party to another, it was a wonderful depiction of a determined, focused man, who had a lofty goal of ending slavery and an “honest” vision.
President Lincoln wasn’t alone in crafting the vision and determination of the Abolitionists. They were a group of individuals with high character who for decades were preparing the way for the right man able to bring the “Dream” home.
It’s funny, unless I am so unique and different from the rest of you: I left the movie having to reflect on my own character. Would I have had the determination to follow through with my vision against such odds? Would I have figured out that it was indeed my purpose for being created in order that I could step up at the right time to end such an injustice against a truly equal race?
I wondered, when Abe was a child wandering through Indiana and Illinois, if he had even an inkling that one day he would be the keystone to changing millions of lives and history.
I love Lincoln. It wasn’t easy being Lincoln. More than 600,000 Americans lost their lives in the Civil War. The war was so bloody and deadly that the death toll from the Battle of Gettysburg alone nearly matched that of the U.S. casualties in the entire Vietnam War. The Civil War casualties eclipsed those of WWI and WWII combined. Mothers and fathers hated Lincoln for the loss of their beloved children’s lives.
History is valuable for more than just learning from our mistakes; it is also a tool for repeating our victories. As a nation that personally failed a valuable and God-created race, it’s no wonder that Americans will sacrifice anything and everything so as to not repeat our mistake of the past.
Our armed forces are scattered around the globe, protecting valuable human beings from being slaughtered because of their religion, dialect, clan, skin color, political positions, and for many other reasons. We are a nation determined to not repeat our mistakes and to stand up for injustice, even to the grave.
In our businesses, what can we learn from history? Can we learn only from our mistakes, or can we learn to repeat and pattern our
past successes?
As we find ourselves in the first quarter of 2013, I would challenge you to reflect back on 2012 to see what worked and what didn’t work. I doubt that you will be called upon to pay the ultimate sacrifice that Lincoln and others paid, but how far are you willing to go? Whom will you fight for today? For what purpose were you created?
Contact Jeff Pinyot, President of ECO Parking Lights, at jspinyot@ecoparkinglights.com.
My wife, my oldest son, and I went to see the movie “Lincoln” the other night. Despite wondering whether had the movie come out a few weeks before the election, might it have swayed voting from one party to another, it was a wonderful depiction of a determined, focused man, who had a lofty goal of ending slavery and an “honest” vision.
President Lincoln wasn’t alone in crafting the vision and determination of the Abolitionists. They were a group of individuals with high character who for decades were preparing the way for the right man able to bring the “Dream” home.
It’s funny, unless I am so unique and different from the rest of you: I left the movie having to reflect on my own character. Would I have had the determination to follow through with my vision against such odds? Would I have figured out that it was indeed my purpose for being created in order that I could step up at the right time to end such an injustice against a truly equal race?
I wondered, when Abe was a child wandering through Indiana and Illinois, if he had even an inkling that one day he would be the keystone to changing millions of lives and history.
I love Lincoln. It wasn’t easy being Lincoln. More than 600,000 Americans lost their lives in the Civil War. The war was so bloody and deadly that the death toll from the Battle of Gettysburg alone nearly matched that of the U.S. casualties in the entire Vietnam War. The Civil War casualties eclipsed those of WWI and WWII combined. Mothers and fathers hated Lincoln for the loss of their beloved children’s lives.
History is valuable for more than just learning from our mistakes; it is also a tool for repeating our victories. As a nation that personally failed a valuable and God-created race, it’s no wonder that Americans will sacrifice anything and everything so as to not repeat our mistake of the past.
Our armed forces are scattered around the globe, protecting valuable human beings from being slaughtered because of their religion, dialect, clan, skin color, political positions, and for many other reasons. We are a nation determined to not repeat our mistakes and to stand up for injustice, even to the grave.
In our businesses, what can we learn from history? Can we learn only from our mistakes, or can we learn to repeat and pattern our
past successes?
As we find ourselves in the first quarter of 2013, I would challenge you to reflect back on 2012 to see what worked and what didn’t work. I doubt that you will be called upon to pay the ultimate sacrifice that Lincoln and others paid, but how far are you willing to go? Whom will you fight for today? For what purpose were you created?
Contact Jeff Pinyot, President of ECO Parking Lights, at jspinyot@ecoparkinglights.com.
