It is physically impossible to look forward and backward at the same time. It cannot be done. You are able to see one direction or the other, but your eyes cannot take in both at once.
It is no different with one’s inner vision, that place within your being, mind and soul. When you spend time focusing on the past, reliving it with guilt, regret, and “if only,” that is where all your thoughts are. You expend your energy there. It is where you are—in the past. The result is like an eddy or a whirlpool. Going in circles, you get sucked down and become stagnant. You are rendered powerless and immobile with no chance or hope of ever getting out and moving forward.
While letting go of one’s past is sometimes easier said than done, hanging on to it weighs a person down in the most literal sense. It becomes a heavy burden to carry, with no real payoffs--unless you are trying to qualify for martyrdom. Living in the past is the antithesis of God's plan and desire for us.
Living in the present, ever moving forward, is important in order to live a viable, productive, complete, and satisfying life. How do I know? I am the voice of experience. It was one of the first lessons taught me by my Creator.
Valuable principles like these are foundational. They are the base for other building blocks in a person’s life. In my opinion, this one is especially worthwhile.
“…but I focus on this one thing:
Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”
Philippians 3:13 NLT