I love this statement.
I was a big fan of nostalgia.
I am NOT condemning nostalgia.
But the motivation behind the nostalgia is suspect.
And you should question it within yourself.
It's fine to look back on pleasant memories with loved ones.
They can give you strength when you're going through hard times.
But it's dangerous to escape into the past to try and recapture a moment of that past.
It's not the same place.
And you are not the same person.
Tap into the vast reserves of power within you to face the hard times.
They won't last. (The hard times, I mean.)
Look back only to amaze yourself at how far you've come.
Be nostalgic about the even more amazing you that's just ahead of the path.
SImple and sweet. The thing is, I'm 34. I've been fighting depression for the last ten, trying to get into grad school, trying to deal with my wife's manic depression, trying to manage my writing career, struggling financially, so on. It's been hard, and its easy to look back and be entrapped in a past we can see as better. But this is a lie. The past is the past: it is a vapor. We have only the now, and we must not forget that those hard times are purely temporary. If we get bogged down in nostalgia, we miss out on the present, and when the hard times pass, we are likewise blind to the good times that follow.
So many look forlornly to the past, believing it to be a simpler, easier time. But was it really? For many, it was more likely being rebuffed by the girl at the bar, or another girl in the corner who couldn’t get a date, or having a job where you were spinning your wheels, or living in a place where nothing ever happened.
We can look to the past all we want. But we have to move forward.