We all talk about the past. We say various things about it. There are so many complicated speeches, ideas, advises, theories and all sorts of things regarding the past. But first of all, what is past? How do you define past in an easy to understand and obvious way? How do you know it's past?

Simply put, it had already happened; therefore past. I once had my balls punched, it doesn't hurt anymore; therefore past. I once saw a lightning, I'm not seeing it anymore; therefore past. A quantum mechanical black hole AKA micro black hole was created in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and it  evaporated  before even a trillionth of a second passed by. You get the point.

And now there is one more thing: you remember it. Now how do you deal with it? How do you deal with it if you have a problem with your past?How do you forget your past? How do you get yourself some sleep? How do you find some way to get your mind cleared of all things that are toxic? You can't force yourself into any of those...... Harder you try harder it becomes.

Then what do your do?....... Let's look into the great people of our great human history. How about Edison. His life used to be a succession of failures. It was also a  succession of stealing credit. He failed roughly 1000 times at making the light bulb. He also attempted to make a movie industry which ended up creating Hollywood (in retaliation) That should have surely sucked! Especially with that bulb. But like winners, there was a difference in attitudes :-)

"I just found another method that doesn't work for the light bulb." Now imagine saying that a thousand times. Just think about the amount of experience Edison would have gained. The light bulb was the hardest and most difficult invention for Edison and it was also his first. Why do you think he succeeded so well in the latter parts in his life even with far more complicated inventions? It was a simple case of past. A past of failure. A past one would like to wish away. A supposedly unpleasant past one would want to just forget and move on.

But then again, isn't past already happened! Your scars don't hurt anymore. But then there is the experience that gave you those scars. Those experiences stick just like a movie you watched or a ride in some amusement park or a high end game of porker or League of Legends.

We live our lives in scenes but remember them in moments.

@vimkthi

You can't do anything with past. That's in the definition. What you can do something with is your present and what you do with it will decide the future to come. All of your past was once a future and then a present before they end up your -untouchable ironclad set in stone more immutable than blockchain- PAST. Your past can serve the same purpose as history. Your past is something that gives you a competitive advantage over future. To Edison there were only 1000 "learning experiences" that's why rest of his life was smoother. And also that's why the failure of a past didn't matter at the end.

Lots of pros are gurus or some self-help guys will tell you and teach you a whole bunch of ways and techniques to handle and deal with the past. But I'm a simple but effective person. I like the Psycho-Engineering. It's a term I came up with at highschool way before I quit. As a Buddhist I really take my time to look deep into the mind and it's mechanics. One thing I'v repeatedly confirmed is that at the base level, everything is much similar. They share a common syntax/s. Your mind is full of predetermined actions and notions you've acquired through countless interactions. When you start to see and understand these things like codes in a computer program, you also become capable of editing them.

The moments of enlightenment aren't some grand mystical things. They happen to you when you allow them to happen. To deal with past- and I mean any kind of past, you need to understand 2 things. Just knowing isn't enough. You need to see these 2 points in your life.

#1 It is over. It's really over. there is no more. It could have been the reality a nano second ago or even several decades ago. But the point is that it's over. Nothing can be done about it. It's like an old block in a blockchain only in this case 51% attacks don't exist.

#2 Milk It! Learn From It! VIVIsect it like you have a treasure map or some new element discovered. The only thing you can critically look at is the only thing that is absolutely immutable. Your past is a record of actions and consequences. The universe is a web of actions and consequences. The more your rip apart and understand your past, the more you know about how the world works. That understanding of the universe will give you both the ability and confidence to fight a million battles.

Many would say otherwise. But to me that's all you can and all you should do with your past. Anything else you attempt will drain you or even make you suffer.