We can learn a lot from all of the major events that have happened in the world throughout history. While in school, you probably read a lot about these snapshots from our past. Some of them were good and others were bad, but they’re still a part of us all the same. We can’t go back in the past and relive any of these moments, but we can definitely take some time to learn from them. We can look at the bad moments and study them so that we don’t end up repeating them. For example, lessons can be taken away from any war that has been fought. We can look at what started them and steer clear of those catalysts now to avoid wars in the future. And we can look at the good moments from our past too and study them so that we can have more moments that are like them. For Instance, cures and vaccinations for certain diseases have made our world a much better place. People are able to live longer because of them, and we can look at these past medical discoveries to spearhead future research that is devoted to fighting disease and sickness.

The same goes for our personal life. You have experienced many things during your time on this earth. Some of those moments you’ve loved (like your first love) and some of them you were less than thrilled about (like your first heartbreak). No matter the outcome of these situations that you have gone through, however, you can still take some very important lessons from them. If you were happy with a certain moment, then you can review it so that you can have similar experiences in the future. For instance, looking back on the aspects of your relationships that helped you to become a better person will allow you to seek out those same attributes in people when searching for future relationships. On the other hand, if you weren’t a fan of a certain situation then you can analyze it so that you won’t have to go through anything like that again. For example, working in a toxic work environment may have caused you pain while you were going through it, but now that you’ve experienced it you know what to avoid when you find jobs in the future.

There’s nothing wrong with looking at your past positive thinker. The problem occurs when you start to dwell on it. You shouldn’t be so focused on whatever happened in your past that you start to forget to enjoy the present. Have you ever meant someone who couldn’t stop talking about their “glory days?” I know that I have! Whenever you interact with these individuals, they seem to only talk about the good moments that happened in their past. And like I said, there’s nothing wrong with that. I like to relive my glory days as much as the next guy or gal, but you shouldn’t be so involved in your past that that becomes all that you know. Your present is important, and if you’re using your past memories to circumvent dealing with something painful that’s going on in your present, then you should think about changing how you use your past. It’s going to be more beneficial for you to look at your past to try and find something that can help you deal with your current predicament then it will be to keep looking at your past in order to avoid dealing with problems that you’re having.

Your past is your past for a reason. It’s supposed to stay back there. I encourage you to live in the present, and to only look back at the past when you need to take something away from it so that you can help yourself in the present. Your future can be bright if you learn to listen to the lessons that you have learned from past events. There’s always a lesson to be learned from every experience that you have, you just have to be open to seeing it. Keep one eye on the past so that you’ll always be aware of these lessons. And keep the other eye on the present in order to make sure that you’re living your life to the fullest so that you can have an even brighter tomorrow!