For better or for worse.

The past is something that cannot be changed. We cannot hide from it. We cannot turn it into the present, and we cannot forget it.

The past exists to help us gain greater clarity about the decisions and moments that have occurred in our lives. To guide us and provide direction at certain moments in our lives. However, this past should never be an anchor for our thoughts. We should not constantly carry the past into our present. We must not allow ourselves to be imprisoned by past situations, by bad experiences, or, on the other hand, by experiences that, by a stroke of luck, turned out very well.

We cannot use what happened in the past as a yardstick, but we should look at it as advice from someone who has walked through our lives.

You may not know us anymore, but at that moment, you looked deep inside us and offered some advice. Today, we may no longer live by those rules. We may not have as much influence—or as little as we once did. Our lives are constantly evolving.

The growth that comes from this evolution arises with progress. The step forward. The doors that may have closed behind us only led us to continue searching for the path we have since traveled, and that has brought us to this very point.

Not all memories deserve a place in our minds. We must not cling to every memory, at the risk of failing to see the light ahead of us, out of fear of the darkness that path once held for us.

That is what the past is for. To put us in context. To give us an overview of what came before us, and of the ideas and decisions that—whether through our own choices or the circumstances of our lives—have emerged and shaped us.

For better or for worse.

Looking at the past, however, should not mean fixing our gaze there. On that point. But it should, therefore, give us a point of reference. Something that shows us how we acted, or what happened to us. Something that happened to us that we absolutely do not want to happen again, or something we chose that we should not have taken a stand on.

The past does not imprison us.

Or rather, it should not imprison us, but rather open a door to a dimension that can show us much more than we think.

These days, we often hear young people say they don’t regret anything they’ve done. The only people who don’t regret anything are those who haven’t lived long enough, or those who have no awareness whatsoever of their own actions.

Regret, however, does not mean that we will not make the same mistakes in the present or the future. But it does indicate a greater desire not to fall into the same situation and meet the same fate.

And you, if you had a time machine, would you consider visiting the past, or would you just like to keep certain past experiences more present in your mind when you face similar situations in the present?

I hope you enjoyed this little daily reflection of mine. See you again tomorrow.

Have a good night sleep, everyone.