You’re on your way to work, walking by the usual concrete steps which greet the soles of your shoes every morning. Green Day pulsating in your earphones, you fail to notice that a new breakfast stall had just opened and the scent of sautéed onion and garlic wafted around your nostril, slowing your steps and closing your eyes as you inhaled. And just like that, what was supposed to be a usual walk-to-work routine was subverted. Instead of arriving in the office, you’ve gone back in time to a moment you cherish in the deep recesses of your heart. Nostalgia.

What is nostalgia?

As defined by a credible source, Google identifies nostalgia as a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The sweet summer anthems. Those crunchy orange leaves. That gentle afternoon breeze. These images are how I visualize nostalgia, and although everyone portrays it differently, one thing is certain, these evoke happy times we wish we can go back to. But for some, myself included, this quick walk at memory lane can turn into a long march which eventually “imprisons” us. Discontent, we end up longing for these favorable times almost as a last resort to escape the unpleasant realities we individually face. This is the pitfall of reminiscing.

Stop dreaming about the past.

It is perfectly understandable if you read this heading with resistance. After all, each of us have places, things, or even people we fondly look back to. Yet if you are like some who, on more than one occasion, were trapped in that blissful chamber of memories, chances are, you’re slowly coming to the realization that drowning one’s self in nostalgia is pointless as it changes absolutely nothing in the present. But if not, now you know.

There are many people suffering anxiety because of nostalgia, myself included, get anxious about the good times and how they are over or how we were praised by others for being bright, only to plateau from there and eventually stagnate into mediocrity. We surround ourselves with faded glories and past laughter to remind us that at one point, we were happy. This self-defeating mindset is a quicksand many of us unconsciously walk on and sink into.

Face it, tiger…

Terrifying as it is, the panacea exists in all of us. It is our will. We have to choose to stop dwelling in the past in order to escape the bonds we have created for ourselves. It is a constant struggle nottodwell in the past yet it is through constant practice that an artist excels in her craft. The seduction of nostalgia must be resisted, and instead, we must focus our attention to the present because it is only now that we can affect things for neither the past nor the future will ever be in our control. No matter how unpleasant our current circumstances are, we cannot escape our fates. So rather than rebel against what is, which ultimately does nothing, why not face our fates and possibly overcome challenges? Hold close to your hearts the words of Marcus Aurelius:

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Face reality and be.