“Don’t look back; something might be gaining on you!” So said the great Negro Leagues pitcher Satchell Paige. This was one of his six rules for staying young, which first appeared in Collier’s magazine in the June 13, 1953 issue.
Good advice?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
The weight of regret as we look back on mistakes can be punishing, robbing us of the possibility of happiness now or in the future.
On the other hand, if we wish to learn about life, some reflection on the past is required.
Consider two other messages, one a dark story and one of light.
A biblical take on this question comes from the Book of Daniel. It is rendered above in a reproduction of Rembrandt’s painting, Belshazzar’s Feast.
In ancient Babylon, so the story goes, King Nebuchadnezzar transported loot taken from Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem to his royal court. At a drunken feast, his son, the new King Belshazzar, used these sacred objects of silver and gold to “praise the gods of gold and silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone.”
The fingers of a hand suddenly appeared and wrote Hebrew words on the wall behind the monarch. No one in his party could translate the message, at which point Belshazzar summoned Daniel, an exiled Jew who had worked under Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel informed the king that he had blasphemed and decoded the meaning of the words:
- God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.
- You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
- Your domain is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
That evening, Belshazzar was murdered and replaced as king by Darius the Mede.
The handwriting on the wall came too late for Belshazzar to undo his misdeed and profit from the learning. Most of us have a better chance of putting things right and reforming our behavior, but we must act before events overtake us.
Sometimes, that means we must read the handwriting on the wall differently.
The script might tell us to drink in life and take in the world. Keeping your eyes closed to people and avoiding every risk guarantees you will miss a lot. Perhaps a new friend or job or the fulfillment of the talent inside you.
Unfortunately, not everyone takes the time to enlighten and open himself to possibility. Belshazzar was too preoccupied with wealth to recognize himself until it was too late.
Creating a self who turns from reality, we might be caught by the things too troubling to reckon with and miss all that is worth living for.
Satchell Paige was right — “something might be gaining on you.” It might be opportunity, knowledge, self-awareness, not to mention time. Embrace as much as you can.
My advice? Read the writing and what is personal therein. Read the newspaper, the eyes of others, the natural world, and as much of the fantastic as you can find.
The chanciness of life scares the devil out of us and puts the fun into us.
Look over your shoulder now and then, not to mention up ahead instead of down at your phone as you cross the street, with earbuds in place, closing off everything else. Put on your glasses and smile.
Maybe you’ll meet the love of your life or the chance of a lifetime. Sometimes, it happens before you can turn around.
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The top image is Belshazzar’s Feast by Rembrandt. The photo below is Monopoly Chance Landing by Paul O’Keefe. Both are sourced from Wikimedia Commons.
