I think about the past a lot. Who doesn’t?
Of course, like most people I cherish the great memories.
And then there are the difficult ones. There’s nothing I can do to change them (Boy, that LIVESTRONG tattoo sure seems like a bad idea now). Few things can amend unresolved issues with others.
The only thing the complete past — good and bad — offers is experience. Experience to draw upon, contemplate, and possibly use to become wiser and evolve as a human being.
This is true for both business and personal life.
Yet, dwelling on the past for too long is one of the most unproductive exercises one can engage in.
There comes a time when I need to start acting and moving forward, or else risk becoming lost in the past, unable to achieve anything, paralyzed.
Such is the price of over-analysis.
For me, there are relationships and things that will never get resolved to my full satisfaction. Even if they were, I doubt I would feel completed. That resolution lies within.
Regardless of whether I achieve peace and reconciliation, the only way to live is to move beyond. Move forward.
Such is the truth of the past. The good stuff fulfills me, and the bad memories leave me hungry for better. It provides a motivation to succeed.
Once I get to that point, it’s time to cut the cord, and leave the past behind me in the rearview mirror. Lessons learned.
Cord. Cut.
Don’t look back.
How do you handle the past?