It’s a great place for learning
The past is like a massive reference library where all your learning takes place. Experience is the best teacher and the best way to learn is to make your own mistakes to find your own way. Looking back allows you to see situations with a lot more clarity than you did at the time of the experience.
Gives you a better perspective on where you are now
Many of us paint a picture of our lives that puts emphasis on the present and the future but the past is just as much a part of the picture. Once you bring the context of the past into it you get a truer perspective of where you really are. You can see where you’ve been, where you’re at and where you’re heading and tweak accordingly.
Shows you your hotspots, where there are healing opportunities for you
It can be painful to look back and there can be a tendency to judge yourself harshly based on what you know now and make yourself wrong. It’s important to realise that any decisions made in the past were made with the knowledge that was available to you then and with your best intentions at heart. You didn’t know then what you know now and you probably wouldn’t know what you know now without learning from these past mistakes! Where there are feelings of discomfort over your past there are opportunities for you to forgive, heal and grow. Heal, forgive and grow from these opportunities and watch yourself soar.
Helps you to be grateful for where you are now
Looking back at some of the places you have been, especially the dark places, helps you to see the positive aspects of where you are now. It’s all relative and sometimes the place in which we currently stand we would have given our right arm for sometime in the past. Being grateful for where we are right now is a huge part of what takes us forward too.
Increases your sense of self-worth and confidence
It’s very easy to focus on how well everyone else is doing compared to us and how far we still have to go. Always looking forwards means always striving but when you allow yourself to reflect, you allow yourself to see what you have overcome to get to where you are today. Looking back shows you your accomplishments and empowers you to feel you can accomplish more.
Enables you to see your growth
Change always happens inside first so there are times you will be working hard to move forward and not seeing much external or physical evidence of your change or growth. Reflecting on the difference of how you handle situations and make decisions now and then allows you to become more aware of just how much change is actually taking place under the surface. Looking back helps you to see just how much you have changed internally so if you carry on in that direction it’s simply a matter of time before external changes manifest themselves.
Questions
- What mountains have you been climbing this year?
- Stop, think and look back, how far have you come already?
- How do you know how far you have come?
