No one likes to suffer through difficult times. When they are over we move on and do our best to block them from memory. What good can be done from dwelling on the past? But sometimes those past experiences can haunt us until we bother to frame what is behind.

The ability to make sense of the past is a powerful tool. It brings clarity to your present situation, sheds light on your direction, and is a useful guide moving foreword.

When you look back you can see your path more clearly. Everyone knows what it is like to feel lost in the fogginess of the moment. Taking a next e can be horrifying when you don't know where it will lead. But when you look back you have the privilege of seeing where steps lead and the consequences of each action. Hindsight is 20/20 they say and they are right. You can see how your discussions and settings influenced you with clarity. It still takes an (near)objective mind to do this. Personal history is valuable when seen critically.

In addition to seeing your previous decisions more clearly, framing your past can help you determine your current trajectory. It takes two points on a map to draw a line. When you only consider your current situation (one point) it becomes very difficult to see where you are going. If you ever want to change direction this becomes very important. It is necessary for you to see where you came from if you ever want to go somewhere new. The sad truth is that, left to our own devices  we often gravitate towards the things we know and have already done.

This is why framing the past is a useful guide moving foreword. You can plot a smarter course if you have an appreciation for the past. Look back, on the good and the bad, and frame it in a way that informs your present and guides your future.