NIE COLUMNIST: 

Layton Lolo.

I wish I could turn back time

To the good old days

When everything seemed better

All I wonder is how it got this way

I lose myself in nostalgia

Wanting to go back to the past

But I might as well try to step through a closed window

Forced to gaze upon the old times; passing so fast

New emotions; ones that weren’t always there

Rise in my heart and eat at my soul

I feel the pain and try to fight back

But I know and fear that I will never be whole

I push others away and hide my feelings

I obsess in ordinary things as a distraction from the pain

But why all this?

Because it makes me feel a little more sane

I miss the moments

Where I laugh till I cry

I miss the moments

Where I felt as though I could fly

But why waste time on the past

When a future stares us in the face

Waiting to be discovered

A journey, not a place

So I won’t shed a tear

For moments that are gone

I will learn from them

Then move on

Have you ever sat down in a chair at home or at school or wherever and out of nowhere, the moments you experienced in the past just seem to flow back to your mind?  Then once that happens, you long to have that again where everything seemed better?  Or perhaps you had a hard time in your life and your mind focuses on a past moment where you didn’t need to worry, because you weren’t in that situation?

Have you ever simply thought, “I wish I was back at that moment because it was perfect?”  Well I have had my moments where I ponder upon such things.  The main point I’m trying to reach is that the past may seem wonderful and we may wish to ditch the present and live those moments again, but that is simply impossible.  

The only way to make the most of the present and future, is to accept the past and learn from it in order to fully live the present.

Recently I’ve been stressed, rushed, hurt (more emotionally than physically), exhausted, and a million other things.  

After all this I began to look back to loved moments where I never had to worry about what I had now and how I wished to live it all over just to feel better again.  But then I pushed those thoughts aside and asked the Lord for understanding and strength.

Now I understand that there will always be those times where we wish we were back to the good old days, not to make us feel bad and horrible, but so we won’t forget what it was like and so we strive to have it in our future.  

The way I see it is that it’s a guideline for us to learn from and follow.

So keep those memories of the past for when we need them the most.  Remember the moments that have the most meaning like when your mother sang you to sleep at night, when you were at your happiest, when you were most fulfilled, or when you learned something new.

There’s a quote I live by that goes like this, “Never stop learning because life never stops teaching.”  

Nuff said.

So remember to hold on to the best whenever you look back.