Don’t Dwell on the Past
Whatever the past was, it’s gone. There is nothing you can do
to change anything that has gone before, and so you must turn
your attention to the here and now. It is hard to resist the
allure of dwelling on what has gone before. But if you want to
be successful in your life, you have to turn your attention to
what is happening for you right now. You might be tempted to
dwell on the past because it was awful or because it was won-
derful. Either way, you have to leave it behind because the
only way to live is in the present.
If you’re revisiting the past because of regrets, then you need
to be clear that you can’t go back and undo what you’ve done.
If you hang on to guilt, you’re only damaging yourself. We’ve
all made bad decisions that have adversely affected people
around us that we professed to love but whom we treated dis-
gracefully. There isn’t anything you can do to wipe the slate
clean. What you can do is to resolve not to make such bad
decisions again. That’s all anyone can ask of us—that we
acknowledge where we messed up and are trying our hardest
not to repeat the pattern.
If the past was better for you and you hanker after your glory
days, then learn to appreciate the memories but also move on
and put your efforts into finding a different kind of good time
right now. If it truly was better back then (take off those rose-
tinted spectacles for a minute), maybe you can analyze exactly
why—money, power, health, vitality, fun, youth. Then move
on to find other avenues to explore. We all have to leave good
stuff behind and find new challenges, new areas to inspire us.