A few days ago, I got an invitation from my old superior whom I had worked with for about twenty years. He is going to have a reunion party in December for the old members of the department that my boss and I had belonged to. He has held the party regularly, and this is the first one in five years. But I was not immediately tempted to join it. Instead, I hesitated and made up my mind to skip it. I did not want to have the same one as before.
I had joined the party a few times before. I had enjoyed them very much and was very glad to see my old colleagues with whom I had worked in Europe. I had a very long talk with them about old times. So, I was reminded of a lot of my experiences in Europe, which excited me and made me laugh a lot. The parties were so great that I was very fascinated and had nothing to complain about them.
The next day, however, I could not keep the happy feeling and got the blues. My mind began to tell me: what was so much fun about reminiscing on the past?; do you really have time to do so?; and, what are you going to do with the past? My mind was telling me them all day and never stopped telling them to me for the following few days. So, I found that even if I stayed with the past, nothing would start. Instead of staying with the past, I should see now and the future. In other words, I should think more about what I should do now for my future. That was why I decided to skip the party in December.

　先日、20年近く勤めた会社の上司からお誘いがありました。12月にボクたちが所属していた部門のOB会を開くらしいです。ボスは、定期的にOB会を開催してくれていて、今回は5年ぶりです。でも、すぐに参加しようという気になれませんでした。むしろ、迷った挙句、以前のような思いをしたくないと思い、参加しないことにしました。過去に、この会には数回参加したことがあります。その時は、欧州で一緒に仕事をした昔の同僚とも会え、昔話に話を咲かせ、すごく楽しかったです。おかげで、欧州時代の昔の体験が思い出され、ワクワクしたり大笑いしたりしたものです。OB会を満喫し、言うことがないくらい素晴らしいものでした。
　でも、翌日になると、このうれしい気持ちが続かず、落ち込んでしまいました。ボクの心が、「過去に浸ってなにが楽しいの？」、「悠長にそんなことをしている時間はあるの？」とか「過去を振り返って何をするつもりなの？」とつぶやくのです。このつぶやきが一日中続き、更に、その後の数日、つづきました。
　言われてみると、過去にしがみついたところで、なにも始まらないと思いました。そして、今と将来のことを考えるべきと思ったのです。これが、今回のOB会を断った理由です。