Last fall’s PBS documentary series on the Vietnam War by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick evoked in me, as it did in many others, deeply emotional memories from that era.

Fifty years ago, in January 1968, newspaper headlines and the evening news, the CNN of that era, provided updates on the Tet Offensive in Vietnam.

During the next 6 months, American troop levels in Vietnam were increased, Civil Rights and anti-war demonstrations filled American streets, President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not seek reelection, and Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were murdered.

It was far more than many of us could absorb yet alone understand.

That spring I received a new draft status, 1A, which meant I was immediately eligible for the draft. Hoping for the best, I signed my first teaching contract in the Detroit suburbs. And in June I graduated from college.

Everything within and around me and in the country and world seemed foggy and frightening.

I could not see more than a few weeks into the future, and I could not have imagined then what it would be like to look back on those 6 months from the perspective of 50 years.

Reflecting on that intense period reminds me that sometimes things work out better than we think they will in our darkest hours. But 50 years of history have also taught me that sometimes for some people they don’t.

While I didn’t go to Vietnam, hundreds of thousands did, often not of their own choosing, and millions of lives were lost and others destroyed in the United States and Southeast Asia.

From the perspective of 50 years, I glean these lessons:

1. Our lives are shaped by powerful forces much larger than ourselves, which means that the life circumstances of any individual cannot simply be reduced to “personal choice.” Bad things do happen to good people through no fault of their own.

2. We can’t control everything, but we can affect many things that really matter, most of which are life-style related. Those factors include, but are not limited to, paying attention to important relationships and having a healthy diet and sufficient physical activity.

3. One of the most important things we can control is our attitude, with gratitude for things both large and small being first among the attitudes that can make a significant difference in the quality of our lives.

4. In the long run experiences we share with family and friends are far more important than things.

5. While life can be lived one day at a time (or hour or minute), there is value in both planning for the future (while holding those plans loosely) and on finding meaning, purpose, and a sense of continuity by reflecting on the past.

What has your life taught you that you wish you had known then?