by Donna Del Vecchio

Created on: January 02, 2010

Our past is what has made us who we are today.  Our memories of our childhood, our experiences through the teenage years, our twenties and so forth all have contributed to where we are now. 

There is a saying, "If I only knew then, what I knew now." is so very true.  Most of us probably would have tried harder to make our lives easier in our future.  We would have made life choices for our education to better ourselves instead of just getting by.  We would have perhaps saved more and squandered less.  We would have thought about how to be a better person to our family, friends, and neighbors. 

Dwelling on our past brings back memories of better and simpler times.  We may have not known it at the time, but the future was there for the taking.  No matter what life handed us when we were young, there was still time for opportunity, adventure, and the skies the limit.  Could have, should have would have is why we think back about our past.  Why we choose the path we are on now, was our choosing.  Yes, some things in life lead us to our path, but every decision was ours. 

If only every teenager was forced to sit in detention like in the movie " The Breakfast Club," then maybe we would have realized that those precious years where the years to think about what truly was important. We would have come to know that our parents, our families, and our friends where an important part of life's journey.  We maybe would have dwelled more on doing what was best for us and not what was best for others who in the long run would not matter in our lives.

We dwell on the past as it is what made us who we are today.  We know that many mistakes were made along the way, but, then again, our past led us into the future. There is always time, no matter what age we are now, to sit back and reflect on how we could have learned from our mistakes to make a better future for ourselves and our children and grandchildren.

To dwell on what life was like can also bring back such sweet memories of what life was like.  Fun, enjoyment, values, a sense of community and when the world was so much smaller.  There was no global warming, no international money woes, discussions of worlds across continents we did not understand,  destruction of the American Dream.  The past was a simpler time of family and friends we knew firsthand.  Iran was a far off land.  We lived in a fantasy of Hollywood movies and television shows of simpler times.  The American Dream,  stay at home moms, dads working two or three jobs to support the family, kids playing outside all day long, higher eduction for anyone that reached out for it.

Dwelling on the past is a wonderful experience for all of us.  We can think of what life use to be like.  We did not have the weight of the world on our shoulders.  We wanted world peace, to strike out hunger, and understood that it was up to our generation to change the world. 

Our history is the foundation of our future.  Of course, it is wonderful to dwell upon the past.  May each generation continue to do the same and learn from their mistakes too.

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