10 Reasons to Look Back

1. On a walk up a hill we sometimes are so intent on the uphill struggle we forget to look back at the view.
2. Learn from the past. Prepare for the future. Live for the present. (Kolb's learning cycle is constant reflection in and on action, in the present and the past to transfer learning to the present again).
3. The past does not exist unless hard wired or hard copy. (Knowledge is only attained by reinforcement and repetition of items in the short term memory so they can transfer for longer storage in long term memory).
4. On some paths the type of pitfall will be similar, so seeing what's gone before helps avoid the next. Mud follows mud, rabbit burrows follow rabbit burrows and in a field of marsh grass you might think to wear wellingtons.
5. If you come off the path sometimes its good to go back to find your way again.
6. The past can be like a happy pill, to be able to recall a time you felt happy or at peace can create those feelings as if they were true.
7. Returning to the past is like taking a break on your journey to unpack your baggage, sort it out and lighten the load or make it more comfortable for the journey ahead.
8. Catharsis is wringing out the dish rag to dry out to be used again.
9. The past is a holiday spot - a good place to visit, not to stay or to use to avoid present or future reality.
10. The past is analogue in a digital world - like turning back a cassette tape with a pencil, you can turn it back but you won't always know where it stops or if it's the same quality as when you first experienced it and in time it will degenerate, won't snap back the way you want and eventually it may just be eaten up by the machine or you pull the tape out of the cassette and let it fly away in the wind. But until then you can play it over and over again even if the label's been lost and its lost its box.