Starting Fresh

They say it takes three generations for a family to become wealthy, and three more for everything to be squandered away. The theory is that the second generation after the riches have been won works a little less hard, and the generation after that is downright lazy and spoiled, with a sense of entitlement that drives them to spend on luxuries they believe they deserve. However, it seems that many in the generations after the wealth has gone still feel great pride in what their ancestors accomplished, as well as a vicarious thrill from any scandals committed by decadent generations.

For those who cannot claim past greatness in their bloodlines, there is the option of searching their past lives for anything juicy. For awhile it was fashionable to be regressed through previous reincarnations to discover the stuff of which we are made. Incredibly just about everybody who did it seemed to have once been an amazing person, or a least royalty. There seems to be a deep human need to have greatness in one’s past. Somehow it makes one feel more content to live an unremarkable life in which nothing significant is being achieved, other than surviving day to day.

Myself, I always look forward to moving ahead. My father, eager to bury any bitterness for the losses dealt him in the war, put his past behind him when he came to this country. His desire for a fresh start rubbed off on me, I guess, because I prefer to embrace the future, rather than dwell on the past. I love moving into a new house, a new city or a new job. It is an exciting adventure; meeting new people, occupying a new space – making it your own. It is too frustrating trying to hold onto an intangible past.