Hindsight pretends to have perfect vision,
but don't be fooled.
It can only recognise the past.
It professes to have knowledge and sound judgement,
but it lacks foresight.
Don't let it question your aged decisions.
They were made with the insight of inexperience.
Launch your thoughts forward!
And even if you feel an urge to cast an eye backwards,
hopefully, it will recall a journey worthy of the time,
one lived on your own terms, not one consumed by insignificance.
I pray that you did not simply play to the gallery, kept up appearances,
or pretended to be someone you were not.
But instead, you challenged and angered the crowd.
If hindsight gifts you second chances,
I hope you would not need them, because you live in the present,
with confidence that your seeds will yield generous harvests.
need to saunter on life's benches waiting for handouts.
If hindsight lures you towards the back,
hopefully, you would worry much less and laugh much more, even at yourself.
Perhaps, you would play hooky, knowing that work never falls ill, goes into hospital, or dies.
would slow down and smell the coffee,
taste the flavours of flowers you met but never notice,
camping in your backyard,
and make time to savour the ripened fruits of your labour.
Should hindsight tempt you with do-overs,
hope you avoid the hamster wheel and skip the rat-race,
that you do in multiples, the things you regret not having done,
discard the clichéd, weary doubts that befriended you and wore you out,
that you act more on impulse, own your mistakes, and make a bigger fool of yourself.
But most of all,
I really hope you remember to jump, skip at your pace,
dance to the beat of your own drums
and gorge ravenously on life.