What the past is for
You don't have to live there to learn from it.
There’s a community in Bolivia called the Aymara, and they think about time differently from most of us.
In most languages, the past is something behind us, and the future lies ahead. The Aymara reverse this. The past stands in front of you— visible, familiar, something you can actually look at. The future is behind you— out of sight, the way all unseen things are.
N’dèye Fana Gueye, a coach, shared a life lesson that sits right alongside this:
“We constantly drift between a past we regret and a future we fear. The past is not a place of residence. It is merely a place of reference. Reference means ‘to refer to.’ It does not mean that the past holds the truth or is the predictable face of the future — none of that. The past is just the past. So, we must be rooted in the present and find solace in the NOW. Change is the nature of life itself. Resisting it is resisting life itself.”
We’ve all done it: replayed a conversation, a decision, a moment that didn’t go the way we hoped, long past the point where it’s useful. That’s residence. You’re not learning from it anymore; you’re just living in it.
Reading the past is different. You look at it, take what it taught you, and bring that forward. The lesson travels with you, while the moment stays in the past.
So here’s this week’s gentle nudge: What is one thing your past has been trying to tell you that you haven’t quite let yourself hear yet?
With roots in the present,
Team FUEL.
What’s a life lesson you’ve learned that changed the way you see things? Share it with us here.
Great reminder- thank you.