Nostalgia: You Can't Go Back

One of my favorite things to do when I get on a phone call with my mom and my sister is talk about the "old days," better known as childhood memories. We got on a jag Sunday night describing all our old neighbors.

I do admit I have an affection for thinking about the places and people of my childhood.

Oxford says nostalgia is "a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations." In fact, the roots words of nostalgia from the Greek mean homecoming and ache, so nostalgia is a strong desire to return to the way things once were.

Hope you didn't mind the etymology study for today!

Although, I do love talking about my childhood, I have to admit I do not have a strong desire to return to the old days. I'm blessed in that I do have so many good and funny life stories.

I started blogging all those years ago just so those stories would not get lost.  I even once wrote a whole 31 Day series of life stories. 

So, I get nostalgia. But, I can't live there. All those events made me who I am today, both the good and the bad. It's fun to revisit the past, and good to see the lessons learned; but I can't stay long. I must press on.

If I were to press ahead on my journey, all the while looking back over my shoulder, what would happen? Wouldn't I miss what is in front of me? Wouldn't it be easy to fall into a pit or a trap the enemy has laid for me?

What about you? Do you love stories of nostalgia and dream of being back in yester-year? Or are you ready to press on with lovely memories tucked away in your heart but eyes wide open to the possibilities before you?

I want my eyes wide open and expectant.

This is post #14 of my "Walk the Walk Christian Living Series," written from the perspective of a recovering perfectionist. You can go here to see the links of each post as they go live.

It should be no surprise when events have conspired to waylay, me, the recovering perfectionist, from ending this series on time. The #Write28Days challenge started February 1. Today is February 17 and I'm only on my 14th post. I say this to point out before I started recovering from my perfectionism, I would have thrown out the whole series if I couldn't end it on February 28. Instead, I will write 28 posts. They might not be consecutive, but they will get written!

I'm linking this post with the community at Inspire Me Monday, and at the InstaEncouragements Link-Up. Join us!