The Past

The past provides many things for us. It is a school of learning out of which we base decisions. It is a comfort as we reminisce about good times and relive the warmth of relationships and events. It is also a trap.
The past is a foundation for the present, and as such provides events to be built upon rather than to dwell upon. If a builder constantly dwelt upon the foundation of a building, the rest of the building would never get completed. If we spend too much time longing for bygone things or fail to take new risks because of our fears of repeating the past, we cease to grow and we become mired in the mud of mediocrity.
The only thing we can do something about is the present.
The only way we can create a positive past is to be alive in the present, for then when the present becomes the past we can say: "Yes, I lived and loved and grew and learned, and made the past a constant positive product of living life to the fullest in the present."

So enjoy the warm memories of the past, but don't try to live in them. Learn from the challenges and tests of the past, but don't let them bog down the present. They are only snapshots in the photo album of life to be looked at occasionally but only occasionally. Live in the present and create the moments anew. Feel the electricity of life in the here and now. That is living in the present. That is being truly alive.