Is it good or bad to think of the past? 

This seems to make sense, but I can’t help but thinking a lot about the past. In fact, the older I get, the more my mind drifts to the events of my life leading up to today.

By Lawrence R. Samuel

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Sat 9 Jan 2021, 10:10 PM

We’re often told by experts that the present is essentially the only thing that matters. “Focus on the now,” we hear, “as you can’t change what has already happened and the future is yet to be.” This kind of be-in-the-moment therapeutic advice is the centerpiece of all-the-rage mindfulness, the state of mind that prioritises consciousness and awareness, especially of one’s feelings.

This seems to make sense, but I can’t help but thinking a lot about the past. In fact, the older I get, the more my mind drifts to the events of my life leading up to today. This also makes sense to me, if only because I have more past (and less future!) to think of.


Is this a bad thing given all the attention being given to what might be called “presentness”? I don’t think so, as the fact is that our brains are hard-wired to be memory banks. In order to survive, organisms had better remember potential threats and potential rewards, making it understandable why it’s difficult to simply let the past be.

I’m especially drawn to my past when my mind is in a primal or reptilian state, ie, when the rational, analytical, logical side of my brain is off duty. For me, sleep is a deep dive into yesterday, with both real and semi-real vignettes from all parts of my life brought back to reimagine. I’m sure much of this has to do with unresolved conflicts or just trying to make sense of situations that at the time they actually occurred did not make total sense.


Beyond that, however, I often ponder the movie-like pastiche of my life when I’m entirely awake.  Scenes from past relationships, previous jobs, and family events dating back to the Eisenhower administration pop up with reckless abandon, these too likely about reconciliation or an unconscious urge to find closure of some kind.

While a fair share of my past-dwelling revisits happy times, more of it has to do with regrets, bad decisions, and what-ifs from both my personal and professional lives. This latter category can be fairly described as the if-I-could-turn-back-time variety. (Aside: I’ve written millions of words in my life but I’m pretty sure that’s the first Cher reference.) This portion of my looking in the rear-view mirror is clearly the most troubling part of my thinking about the past.

More generally, however, is spending considerable time in a world that no longer exists a normal and even healthy effort of problem-solving—or a disturbing sign of a past-obsessed psyche? I don’t know and I’m not sure that it matters much since it seems to be the way that my brain likes to operate.

— Psychology Today

Lawrence R. Samuel is the founder of AmeriCulture, a Miami- and New York City-based consultancy. He  is the author of many books. Larry can be reached at lsamuel19@yahoo.com.


More news from