It’s a curious thing I’ve observed, both in my own reflections and in the conversations I have, especially online. Whenever I share a thought, a story, or even just a fleeting memory from the past, it often seems to strike a chord. There’s a resonance, a little spark of connection in the comments and messages. As if the mind simply loves a better past.

Maybe it’s a shared human experience, this leaning back into what was. Maybe it’s a collective sigh of longing. A hint of melancholy for times gone by, or that familiar tug of nostalgia. We scroll through old photos, reminisce with friends, and sometimes, just for a moment, we believe that “things were better back then”.

But this observation always leads me to a fundamental question: Why does your mind so readily embrace this narrative of a superior past? What is it about yesterday that has such an enduring appeal? Often overshadowing the moment you’re living in?

Perhaps it’s the selective lens of memory. You tend to smooth over the rough edges, the challenges, the inconveniences of the past. Emphasising instead the sun-drenched moments, the feelings of carefree joy, the seemingly simpler rhythms of life. The mind, ever the storyteller, creates a narrative in which the past often emerges as a golden age.

Perhaps those times were simpler, in a way. Before the relentless flow of information, the constant connectivity, the pressure to optimise every aspect of our lives. Perhaps the pace felt gentler, the demands less overwhelming. Or maybe, as I suspect, it’s simply that memories are kinder editors, preserving the sweetness and fading the bitterness.

And yet, when you really examine the present, you find that the possibilities you long for in the past are within your reach. Right now, in this very moment, you could choose to take some unscheduled time just to breathe and be.

You could choose to pursue a different career path if your current one is no longer aligned with your values. You could actively choose to focus on the good in your life, cultivating happiness, nurturing loving relationships. And consciously stepping away from the comparison game that social media so easily invites.

The truth is, the power to shape your experience, to choose your focus, to cultivate inner peace, lies largely in the present. What the allure of the past and the anticipation of a perfect future have in common is their ability to distract you from that very power.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the mental trap of a ‘better’ time that is no longer accessible. Remember that the mind loves a ‘better past’. But you could also be trapped in a hoped-for future that may never arrive exactly as you imagine.

And in this preoccupation with what was or what might be, you may fail to fully inhabit the only reality that really exists: Right now.

The beauty, the challenges, the opportunities for growth, the moments of connection – they all unfold in the present. The past is a memory, a collection of interpretations. The future is a projection, a landscape of possibilities. But the now? The now is where life actually happens.

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