Lost in the past

 Why do we always find the past better than the present?

We always look to the past and feel that the things that happened are better than the present, But is that really the case?

"I wish I could be like the good old days" is a saying that many of us not only mentioned once. And for whatever reason, we often think our past was better or more interesting than our present. But in reality, often the past isn't really better, or more interesting, just that we seem to remember it that way, and this happens for a variety of reasons.

Looking to the past with the certainty that the present cannot meet.

Do you ever remember the "good old days"?

Not only old people but people of all ages, often yearn for the past, believing it to be a better time. They think and feel that childhood, adolescence, and youth were wonderful times. A lot of people think and believe that everything in the past was better than it is now. This may be true sometimes, but not always. when you look back at your past, you look back with a sense of complete certainty about what will happen next. You can look back on some good times with friends, or accomplishments at work and reminisce about those good times. But in the present time, you cannot do this because life is full of uncertainties.

We crave a sense of certainty and security in our lives. we want to know that our partner will love us forever, that we will have the dream job we have always strived for, and that we will always have a home to return to. But unfortunately, no one can promise us with any certainty that any of this will happen 100%.

Why do people believe that the past is better than the present?

People often don't yearn for the past in light of the circumstances they've been through. They yearn for something else. They yearn for their childhood when they didn't have to worry about money, work, or life. They long for times when they don't have to worry about important things when adults already take care of everything. The past was a carefree time, and that's what they're missing now,

There was another thing they craved, though only unconsciously. Most people from the age of 16 to about 30 have dreams, expectations, passions, and energies. They are still young and the future is ahead.

At this age, there is usually a certain sense of euphoria and people are just starting to step into life, they can still think big, and do big before settling down and getting lost in the hustle and bustle of life. when they are young, people use their imagination and fantasize about a distant future, but as time goes on, they forget their dreams and don't use their imagination like before. when you think about the past, the feelings of you, happiness, and expectations associated with it awaken and you feel good. You will then associate those feelings with the past and get the impression that the past was a better time.

In fact, what we crave is the feeling of euphoria that we experienced when we were young.

When you are young, you will experience things for the first time with curiosity, and excitement. Those early experiences set the standard for your subsequent experiences. This can create expectations and can also lead you to inadvertently compare your current experience with the past ones. And it gets you caught up in the expectation gap or the comparison gap. 

Does this mean that the present moment is not happy and liveable? No, absolutely not. It just means that you are comparing the present moment with the past, ask yourself if you are enjoying the present moment. If not, find something that can help you answer yes to this question. we live in the age of social media, and although it is difficult to break a habit, you need to minimize your tendency to compare society because life is not a competition between people, but you need to compete with yourself.

As you get older and have more life experience, the way you view your past will change.

As you mature, you begin to realize the life lessons you have learned through your past and this can affect the way you look back on your past. It's very common for us to look back on previous difficulties and assume that it really wasn't so bad after all and have confidence that we can face them again. However that doesn't mean that you went through the past smoothly, it just means that you are more confident now if faced with the same difficult situations.

Often, past events are recalled with rose-tinted glasses making those events seem much better than whatever is happening in the present, when we look back on the past, we can remember many wonderful and brilliant things, with our broader experience as adults, we need more to truly be amazed and overwhelmed. So we decide that things are always better when we are young.