Looking backward nourishes the soul only when done with gratitude.
Please discuss. How does this play out in life?
I’ll start us out. Many of us are talking about things we miss from our “old” lives prior to COVID-19. I think fondly of dinners in restaurants, social gatherings, interactions with coworkers, shopping without anxiety, having enough money and some to spare. This is okay as long as my retrospective emotions are thankful. When grateful, I’m telling the Universe what I would like more of in the future, please. If I veer into self-pity or resentment, my emotions center around what is lacking. The Universe will neutrally respond to my energetic attention by giving me more of what I’m focused on. It’s like fishing. What I catch will depend on what I use as bait.
The emotional tone of my reminiscence affects my present as well as my future. If I’m happily and thankfully remembering good times, I both re-experience the goodness in the current moment and signal what I will receive in the future as well. My soul is nourished with the positive in the past, present, and future simultaneously. I’m free to look back in anger and regret if I wish—we all have free will—but I would be feeding my soul with negativity in past, present, and future. That just isn’t as much fun.
How about you? What from your past would you like to experience again, and how are you building toward it?