The Past Is Gone.

“We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.”
― Rick Warren.

No matter how hard we try, how much we desire to alter it, how strong our will to change it, it remains fixed and out of our control. The past is gone from us and there is no way to regain it. We can try to revisit the similar context of events, relive the similar scenes, but ultimately it's out of reach. To breathe that air, to hear that music, to feel that vibration will never feel exactly as it did back then.

Some would say that the past (and future) is an illusion, that we only live in the present. While this might be true, it does not discount the fact that memories are real and are as important to our minds as water is to our survival. Memories form the backbone of our past experiences and present accumulative knowledge we possess.

The positive aspect of memories is that they can trigger our senses and associate with pleasant, long-forgotten knowledge we hadn't thought about since years before. A single cue can trigger a series of enjoyable and exciting recollections that would have otherwise gone unexperienced. Photographs and video aid us greatly in recalling information and experiences that might fade or become distorted over time.

The negative aspect of memories is that we cannot be selective to the ones that left a strong emotional association with unpleasant events. A single cue can bring forth painful distressing recollections that would otherwise have been suppressed successfully. Important to note is that sometimes acknowledging and facing that these things happened is essential to dealing with them in the present. But, fixating on them is a bad idea.

In essence: the past is done, finished and dusted, over and beyond our grasp. We can use our past experiences as learning tools for the present and to prepare for the future. Anything more and we are either degrading the present, or harming our future.

originally posted by: Dark Ghost
“We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.”

― Rick Warren.

In essence: the past is done, finished and dusted, over and beyond our grasp. We can use our past experiences as learning tools for the present and to prepare for the future. Anything more and we are either degrading the present, or harming our future.

Nicely said.

Nothing in the past can harm us. Unfortunately, our present depends on the past, and our present clearly affects the future.

Hence the term "clear and present danger", I guess.

Pretty thoughtful post. Hopefully others will comment also.

a reply to: Axial Leader

Thank you for the encouraging words.

It is my hope that at least some of those who manage to read this thread before it slips into oblivion can relate to it and draw something from it.

a reply to: Dark Ghost
Huh, I really like what you had to say here.
Going through some of the negative aspects my self with the dreams I have been having lately, something must be queuing those up.
But am easily able to use the positives you speak of as well to balance that out



Oh and your title made me think of the aerosmith song dream on instantly

The past is gone. It went by like dusk to dawn. Isn't that the way?

a reply to: Sremmos80

What if I told you it was listening to that exact song that inspired me to create this thread?

That line struck a chord with me and led me to think about how we view our past.

a reply to: Dark Ghost

Important to note is that sometimes acknowledging and facing that these things happened is essential to dealing with them in the present. But, fixating on them is a bad idea. In essence: the past is done, finished and dusted, over and beyond our grasp. We can use our past experiences as learning tools for the present and to prepare for the future. Anything more and we are either degrading the present, or harming our future.

Personally I am just starting to feel normal again after a really bad drug addiction and these few lines I've quoted meant something to me. Thanks for sharing.

a reply to: Dark Ghost

That is pretty awesome haha.
always been a favorite line by them for me

a reply to: Axial Leader

not so. we live in a persistent universe. thus, wars that indisputably ended decades ago still harm people in the now. those who have nothing to do with the conflict. the past is present, though long gone. the past shapes the world around us, and constrains our choice.

Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living

a reply to: Dark Ghost

Love this, it's so very true and so well said!

In essence: the past is done, finished and dusted, over and beyond our grasp.
We can use our past experiences as learning tools for the present and to prepare for the future.
Anything more and we are either degrading the present, or harming our future.

Past experiences help to mold our character, who we are as individuals has a lot to do with our the events in our lives that got us to where we are today. There will always be regret, learning from and utilizing our past experiences without an emotional response is difficult yet much more beneficial. It's so easy to get caught up in the what if's and that's really no way to live.

Future tripping is no way to live either, while it's good to prepare and have plans for the future, don't forget to cherish the here and now because we aren't guaranteed a tomorrow.

The Dalai Lama was asked what surprises him most about humanity, his response fits well with this thread and is an excellent reminder to us all:

“Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived.”