I embrace the perpetual life link to the multitude of experiences, ordeals, occurrences, escapades, adventures, as well as the delightful, amusing, entertaining, pleasant and satisfying episodes that span my past life and that have impacted my present views that in turn continue to build my near future.
Our entire life is filled with so many happy, sad, and fulfilling activities. Some we try to accentuate while others we attempt to squelch and yet, they all emerge at unexpected moments reminding us of our former self and how we have moved on to a different stage in our life.
We are forewarned not to dwell in the past and to live in the present with an eye on the future to make better choices. And yet, when we meet some relatives or friends, some of our conversations take us back to the personality of a family member or a personal tragedy or a funny story that still makes us laugh or cry.
Some of us have become fascinated with searching our ancestry and our DNA to learn the origin of our family history. We are intrigued with the names and birth places of our ancestors. We want to know our ancestral origins so we can have more contextual knowledge of our forefathers.
Our link to our past can be minimal or substantial. It can also be an opportunity to reflect on our life journey or a decision to simply brush aside those “old” thoughts.
When we consciously rekindle the past, we take in a broader view of our personal world. At times, we are subconsciously reminded of the past by a person who resembles a relative or friend or by a song we hear played or perhaps a sweet aroma of an old favorite dish.
The decision we made twenty years ago to move to another geographical location is now a living testament of our current link to the past. We tend to call that “our destiny” and perhaps it is, however we made deliberate choices in the past that has landed us in the place in which we now live mentally, emotionally, or geographically.
I support the mantra of living in the present but to ignore or set aside the deep reservoir of background experiences that have molded our personality and our being would weaken that perpetual link that is always whirling and gyrating inside our memory bank.
And no, we should not live in the past or allow the past to fully dictate our current world rather we should recall the Spanish-born American philosopher, Santayana, and his remark of “ those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Our life should be one of changes and transitions learned from our bumps, bruises, and triumphs over our lifetime, our perpetual life link.
Frank S. Davila, PhD
Jan 2025
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