Reflecting On Your Past

I may have disappointed a few readers for not updating my blog. I don't have a valid reason for that, but let's say it may have been good. I'm fresh from my retreat(A program of my school. by the way I'm Roman Catholic) and hey - if you got a different religion don't go away from this page because I'm not gonna talk about faith. It's just the thing/s that the priest talked about. Hey this guy was just cool. He's probably met all sorts of people and he knows how your lif might end up.

Let me get started.

Reflecting On Your Past

This is a time to reflect on what we have done to our past.

We all have memories. You know, memories? Your first ever birthday party. The first time you walked. The first time you got to school. Your first boyfriend or girlfriend. Your first kiss. Your graduation. The first time you received a salary. In addition to those, a lot more firsts.

If all your memories are happy, you're living a joke, so memories aren't all happy. A life is never complete without the frustrating parts - those we usually regret. Your first spanking from your parents and more of it. First time you cried. Your first injection. Your usual fights with your parents. The "I wish I didn't say that"s. First failed relationship. Failing marks. First time debts stacked. All that pain, and some people - they want to give up on their life.

We never wanted these. They were mistakes we usually did unintentionally and things which occured we never knew that did and there were some we are really responsible for. Common thing? We regret it.

"I don't want to remember it."

"Forget about it."

"PRETEND it never happened."

Remember these words? At least one of these must have come out your mouth once. At least I gave you a background of what words you might say. You see, all these statements are wrong. Never, ever forget your past. It never leads to anything good. You should forgive your past, not forget it, according to our retreat facilitator.

"Oh shit! This guy is talking about forgiving my past and my past is not a person! He's crazy!"

Of course you can forgive your past. And of course, your past is a person - because you are your past. Whoever you are right now is because of who you were or what you did in the past. Forgetting your past is like burying it. You will not know yourself. Forgive your past, do not forget it.

You see, there is a big difference between forgiving and forgetting. Forgetting it of course... forgetting, in the truest sense of the word. Forgiving is acknowledging that a certain event or icident has occured and accepting it. From forgiveness we learn.

Do you ever feel light inside when you forgive? I know you do, because I feel such when I do so myself. I feel good. However, whenever we simply forget, it's heavy it's like killing a part of yourself, just like what I said.

Forgetting is "PRETENDing nothing happened." I've made sure that I make the word pretend all caps because it should capture your attention. Pretending is not good for a life. When we pretend, we do a lot of things which are uncharacteristic of our real selves. Sometimes we pretend we are strong so that people might fear us and we might get the advantage or sometimes we pretend we like something so we're in. On the other hand, some people also pretend they have a weak side so they could be pitied. Some boys do this so girls can talk to them. You know girls nowadays. Crying is an extra point.

So we must forgive our past to acknowledge and accept our faults, our other people's fault to us. How do we benefit from it? Well you know history right? His story, Man's Story. A lot of people ask - "Why do we have to know who the first humans were or what history bullshit war happened?" We have to know it because we should learn from our mistakes.

Learn from our mistakes - and then make sure it never happens again. Thank the historians. Now! Thank them.

'Thank you."

If we simply forget and PRETEND nothing happened, then how can we learn from our mistakes and not repeat them?


So if you haven't been able to get it yet, my message is pure and simple. Forgive your past so that we may learn from it, do not forget it so that we may not repeat our mistakes over and over again.

Now, refelect on your past, acknowledge those which you have regretted and attempted to forget and learn.

Special thanks to Fr. Ding Cortez of Don Bosco Batulao.

Thanks for reading!