Stockholm, Monday.
“Do not look in the rearview mirror, look ahead.”
The advice comes from a water-combed, backslick-groomed so-called life coach.
His well-groomed revelation fills the television screen.
The light blue shirt is perfectly ironed, not a sweat rose in sight despite hot headlights.
With a perfectly cool smile that reveals a dazzling white and even row of teeth, he says again: “Do not look in the rearview mirror, what has been has been, you can not influence, look ahead to what you can influence.”
He sounds a bit like a Messiah where he stands and drums out his message.
Personally, I can not look in the rearview mirror.
I smashed it against a concrete pillar in a parking garage when I backed up.
My focus was on some children that I wanted to avoid reversing, so with a dull crash I mashed the left rearview mirror.
On the highway it became difficult.
It was no problem to look ahead, but every time I had to change lanes it was missing. Rear-view mirrors.
I actually really wanted to look in the rearview mirror. Do you know how difficult it is to drive without a rearview mirror.
I was going to say that to the life coach but I do not even remember his name.
It is this week, by the way, ten years since the spark of the Arab Spring was ignited, when the desperate street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, tired of poverty, humiliation and bullying, set himself on fire in the square of Sidi Bouzid in Tunisia.
His death led to a chain reaction.
People rose up against dictators in Tunisia, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and the Arab world boiled over.
There was violence and war.
Lawlessness and diplomacy.
But also hope and confidence.
Which was then largely strangled, admittedly, but still – there was a spark.
I do not think our friend the water-combed life coach would have much to gain there.
“Do not look in the rearview mirror, look ahead”.
It is almost impossible to say so to those who have lived in a totalitarian dictatorship for 30 years.
It is not possible to say that to those who had family members imprisoned and killed for expressing an uncomfortable opinion.
We need the rearview mirror.
We need to be able to understand.
How one event leads to another and how we should be able to piece it together with our forecasts for the future.
We need to look back, learn from the mistakes – at least in theory as it has become painfully clear that the mistakes have an ability to repeat themselves.
The life coach is also not said to have driven a car without a rearview mirror.
Because it has become painfully clear how difficult it is to drive without a rearview mirror. It is needed.
So the next time I’m in Sweden, the car should at least be driven to the workshop, it should get a new rearview mirror and I should look into it – but only when needed.
Johan-Mathias Sommarstrรถm, Middle East correspondent
Source: ICELAND NEWS