Learn From Your Past, Not Succumb To It

We often see people falling prey to the past. They go into depression. But, is that the way we should be living our lives? Is that the way, we should be dealing with our past?

Photo by Laura Fuhrman on Unsplash

Every step that we take in the present is the consequence of our actions in the past. But don't you think that this shouldn’t be the case. Every new day presents us with new challenges and opportunities. As a result, we should regard these new challenges and opportunities as something that must be viewed through completely different lenses than the ones we are currently wearing. These new challenges and opportunities deserve our full attention, and we should give it our all.

But those who choose to forget their past, do not know how to enjoy their life to the fullest. So although you should take every opportunity as new and fresh but that doesn’t mean that you should completely ignore your past and do not take any insights from it. Pick up threads from your past that will guide you and push you ahead in the right direction and ignore the moments that will drag you down. At the end of the day, it all depends on you as to what do you pick up from your past experience.

Every mistake is a learning opportunity

Every mistake that we do is a learning opportunity and it takes courage to accept it. Not every individual has that level of maturity to stand in the face of the truth and honestly portray his/her true picture. If you are right, no one can make it wrong and if you are wrong no one can make it right. At the end of the day, we are humans and mistakes can happen. There are individuals who think that if they accept their mistakes, it will make them look smaller in the eyes of the society. But the other way of thinking can be, let this mistake act as a motivation and I will correct myself. Every mistake that we do should act as a beacon of light and guide us towards the right path. Every mistake that we do should make us stronger and more mature.

Make peace with your past

There are moments in the past that have the potential to drag you down. There are instances where a past incident/ memory can totally destroy your life. But why can’t this past memory or incident be accepted and act as an inspiration for us to move forward.

Life always gives you a choice. It is in our own wisdom that we have to make that decision. For example, either you make peace with your past or you have to let it go. If you carry the weight, your journey will never be free of that baggage and at every step, you will just go down. De-clutter your life from the situations that shadow your life with darkness and make space for new opportunities and happiness.

“We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.”

- Rick Warren (American author)

Reflect, regroup and refocus

The past can be painful and even brutal at times. Whenever you make a mistake, don’t just leave it away and continue with your life as if nothing has happened. We should take a moment to analyze what went wrong, and what can be done from our side so that such a thing is not repeated again. At the same time, we should not dwell on this for too long. Consciously, make the decision that this won’t happen again and regroup yourself and refocus your energy on the next task. Remember that you can’t change the past, but what comes next is in your hands.

So, let us all learn from the past and not live in it.