Holding on to issues from the past doesn’t aid you in any way to head into the future. Sometimes, issues from the past need to be solved now or buried so as not to harm the present and future. Besides, there is nothing one can do to change what has already happened or been done – make peace with the past and move on.
Apart from thinking about the future, most of the youth tend to think about the past, replaying events that have already happened, words that have already been said – and in many cases, complaining about a past that they were never part of. Things they can no longer change and sometimes just irrelevant to them.
This is not to take away the value of knowing the history of learning from our predecessors but if they made mistakes or had great successes, that is on them. In the present, we can just use them as mere footnotes and lessons to live better lives presently but not past lives.
The past can also be extremely damaging and heavy, especially with the baggage that people tend to bring along with them into the present. The past hurts, disappoints and other types of emotional baggage that people refuse to let go and carry with them everywhere they go and dump it on all the people in their present lives, which is just a bad foundation to start any type of relationship on and frankly, it is also selfish of people.
Apart from hurting yourself with your past, people will hurt others that had absolutely nothing to do with their past; they will make them pay for something which they were no party to and also don’t understand. Even if they do understand your past, it’s your past; your responsibility. Don’t make others responsible for it; make peace with it before bringing it onto others.
Some yearn for the good old golden days when things were much simpler and times were easier, constantly complaining and bashing the present while living in it and cursing the future that is not yet here, simply because they want what was, what isn’t here anymore. Living today by yesterday’s events. Even a good past can damage the present if it’s still lingering around and not made peace with.
The reality is that times will never really be the same, if ever. Bringing one into the other is a recipe for disaster. In many cases, it does more damage than good. Why fret about the past when what was done is already done and can’t be undone? Learn from the past; plan for the future by focusing on the present.
* Olavi Popyeinawa
Twitter: @olavipopyeinawa
Email: olavipopyeinawa@gmail.com