Blasts from the Past? Good or Sad?

[Rheghead]

I found an electronic organiser in a drawer and I powered it up with a new battery. It was a strange visit to the rheggers of yesteryear, different contacts, some forgotten, some very dear. A strange feeling of detachment to a past.

Then I cleared out my facebook account messages and I come across pms from a friend who died of cancer. I still don't know why I haven't deleted them.

Then there are the loads of photos of family, ex wives and girlfriends and people we have forgotten but seem familiar.

Is it depressing to keep on to it all or should we just include it all in the rest of the cyber or real bin? Is it harmful on the human psyche all this media? Surely it is the future that is important? Then I thought remembrance maybe respectful and all that but to what aim is it all geared up to??? Can we get bogged down with reminders of the past to the detriment of aspirations of the future?

I know I have swapped from a single human perspective to a national concience thing but surely it must be the same?

In the end what is healthiest, looking to the past or the future? :confused

[ShelleyCowie]

I think ye hev til look into the future. The only way is forward and ye canny go in til e past, unless ye get a car thats a time machine or sumthing lek that! ;)

But thats my opinion! I still have things from the past. But they are reminders of what happened, no til hold on til what was.

[steeko]

I dont think we can live in the past but cant totally discard it either because it helps to shape our future. We learn from the mistakes we make, friends we knew, and hopefuly become better individuals for it. We can compare ourselves to what we used to be like, and then look to the future which is still unwritten.

[pat]

The past is what has made us as we are now.

Can discard anything we now consider has no relevance to our lives now or in the future.
Sometimes hang onto something for no known reason but when clearing out next time have a rethink and it gets binned - depends on mood and how things have altered my memories.

Was given a very unusual key ring (bomb split pin) about 40 years ago by a pal, quite often it gets unearthed and used again but has never been discarded. Had not seen the pal for 25 years - accidentally met up again through a past time, was using the key ring, produced it and we had a good laugh about old times and where all our old friends were in the world.

Possessions do not really mean much to me - my pals and our memories and our ability to live, laugh and love together mean more than possessions.

[Scorpio12thNov]

We've most definately got to look towards where we, as individuals & as a race, are going. I know how hard it can be to let go of the past, deleting mobile phone pictures, texts, e-mails etc. But you can't live in the past, it's impossible for a start, & very unhealthy. By setting & visualising your goals, you can move on from any event from your past.

[riggerboy]

old saying

dont let your past dictate your future
but let it become part of who you are

something like that infact maybe its not an old saying i have just made it up,

o i`m at a loss now

[Kevin Milkins]

The most important thing in my life is not the past or the future, but, now.

I do enjoy trips down memory lane and tend to hang on to things that most people would have binned years ago, (kids school reports etc) and there are many things I have discarded that I wish I had hung onto (rugby programmes etc).

I sometimes have a look through the attic for an item and end up spending ages looking at things that I have mothballed and forgot about, but I do not envy my kids task of clearing out my tat when I pop my clogs, but hopefully they will find things of interest to them.