Even though the past is over and done with, it often is the lessons we learn from where we have been that lights the way to where we're headed. Bruce at NW Ohio Skeptics makes this point in a post today, "Taking Off the Sheep Clothes, the Musings of a Wolf."
But it's also not healthy to abandon the past either. Every step along the way creates a ripple and some of these ripples turn into waves that sweep us into the future. So, as Bruce writes, understanding the past is important to understanding who we are and how we arrived at where we're at. If we hope to gain wisdom, it is imperative that we recognize each of our steps along the path.
As with so many things in Taoist philosophy, the key is balance: Utilizing the past only as much as our current situation necessitates.
While I don’t want to be a person who “lives” in the past, I realize that understanding the past is essential to my wellbeing in the future. If I learn nothing from the past there can be no growth in my life in the present. The key is not to be shackled by the past. I must learn from it, embrace it, but I must not allow the past to keep me from moving forward in my life...So many people allow the past to define them. They replay past glories or "sins" incessantly, never able to embrace the here and now. They become mired in what they once were and the were defines the are. This is not healthy.
But it's also not healthy to abandon the past either. Every step along the way creates a ripple and some of these ripples turn into waves that sweep us into the future. So, as Bruce writes, understanding the past is important to understanding who we are and how we arrived at where we're at. If we hope to gain wisdom, it is imperative that we recognize each of our steps along the path.
As with so many things in Taoist philosophy, the key is balance: Utilizing the past only as much as our current situation necessitates.
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