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We dwell in the past because, for all of us, the past is a known quantity. Be it good or bad, we lived it, and it is there that we can and do return whenever we choose to. The past has shaped our present, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. It is what we take from the past that makes the difference.

Many are said to "live in the past". We all know those who can recall every play they made in a high school basketball game played thirty years ago. In their memory, they are the young hero of the game, the one everyone was talking about the next day, the super star, at least for a short while. This memory is good, one of the best, and it is self gratifying to relive the moments over and over again, often embellishing just a little more each time. Even though the current state of their life is good, nothing will ever match that memory of carefree adolescence that once existed.

Others who live in the past can not get past a sorrow that happened in their life. The death of a child is an ongoing daily memory for any parent. The death of a spouse changes life forever for the one who is left behind. It takes time, and much of it, to learn to live with the grief and depression that has occurred, and many times it is too difficult to face the future, knowing that such terrible anquish could happen again. The past is a refuge that can be returned to, something to cling to, however sad it is. Moving on would be leaving that loved one behind.

Dwelling in the past does not help face the future. Everyone needs to have a reason to get up in the morning, to go on with their lives, to live their life to the fullest extent available to them. Those who dwell on the past close themselves off to new friends, new activities, new memories and new ways of adjusting to the world that is changing as we breathe each breath. We need to remember the past, but put it into context as to how it affects our current lives.

None of us can escape the past, nor would we want to. Past experiences mold and shape our ideas, our thoughts and our beliefs for the rest of our lives. But to dwell only on past acts would rob us of the present, and of the future. The past has already happened. We need to move along and apply the past to future endeavors, ones that will take place shaped by what we know, what we knew, what we learned, what we did, and how we apply it to our lives.

Learn more about this author, JoAnn Powell.
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