Escape from yesterday: avoid turning the past into the present

Carlos Fuentes says that “the past is written in memory and the future is present in desire.” Living in the past, anchored or pending what will happen in the future, is a way of missing out on the present.. The problem is not remembering intense moments, nor devising a desired life, the problem comes when we take refuge in one place or another continuously.

But what leads many people to turn the past into their present? Resisting accepting the reality that is presented to them or considering that a decision made in the past is the cause of the present misfortune It is one of the reasons that makes many people live wrongly.

“To live in the past is to choose to die in the present and deny ourselves the possibility of enjoying a better future.”

-Anonymous-.

The past is written with all those experiences that have brought us here and now, to this place and in this way. It is a trunk full of good and bad experiencesof wrong and lucky decisions, of sadness and joy and people who entered and left our lives.

Living in the past is like running after the wind

It is not about renouncing the past, but preventing it from becoming a bondage., a burden that paralyzes us and prevents us from enjoying the present. We go to him, through memory. But feeling the need to live in the past is a behavior that is not recommended for our personal development.

A Russian proverb says that “to long for the past is to run after the wind.” Permanently looking back and settling in the past is usually typical of people who are afraid of the present, of the future of life, of the uncertain and cling to the past because knowing what is happening gives them security.

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However, All this causes the present to pass before the eyes without tasting it.because we find ourselves with the mind in a time that will never return, that now only resides in our thoughts and that we can only relive in our mind.

“By looking back at a past that will not return, you can miss a thousand new paths to travel.”

-Anonymous-.

The solution is in our mind

It is not about erasing our past, because remembering pleasant moments gives us pleasure. What it is about is letting go of the ballast and accepting that the past is a spontaneous thought and not a real experience. Know how to take advantage of the memory of lived experienceswhether happy or sad, turning it into a teaching to improve our condition as human beings

The objective is to stop talking over and over again about what we experienced, especially about what hurt us, to move on to living a present without burdens of guilt or pain. As the Arabic proverb says, “know that the past has fled, what you hope for is absent, but the present is yours.”

How can we fight against that impulse to live in the known? The solution is in our mind, stopping when past thoughts become obsessive and torment our present.

Settling into continuous melancholy is a mistake because, luckily or unfortunately, you cannot travel to the past. Blaming ourselves for a past decision and turning our heads to find a solution to something that no longer exists, the only thing we achieve is a psychological punishment that does not allow us to enjoy our current moment.

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Living in the past is meaningless. What has been experienced is not erased, it is not reissued, it does not change… The best solution is to accept what is experienced and let go of it.

John Lennon said that “some are willing to do anything, except live here and now.” To get rid of this burden, Try to focus your gaze on the present, enjoy and become aware of the moment in which you live. Stop traveling to the past to try to fix the impossible and erase phrases such as “if I had done…” from your mind. Do it now.