Pack Your Bags! Goodbye Past, Hello Future?

Tomorrow I leave for my summer semester at school, and as I take a break from packing, I realize that a lot has changed in one year of college. Of course, our reconnections with old friends back home can be a huge indicator of how we’ve changed since high school, but so too can the way we value our material possessions.

Think about it. Obviously our school housing doesn’t have room for everything, so we have to make some choices. What books will join us at school, and what books will gather dust at home? What clothes will we squeeze into our tiny dorm closets, and what clothes will never see the light of day? It’s a tug-of-war between past and present — what will we take with us, and what will we leave behind?

Sometimes it’s a difficult choice to make, especially because it symbolizes our growing up and the fact that we are no longer as reliant on the home we’ve always known. Let’s face it: change is hard. We have to move forward if we want to survive, but sometimes it’s a little painful because it reminds us of simpler times.

However, moving forward doesn’t have to mean forgetting where we came from. Even if we’ve drifted apart from old friends or they no longer have time for us, we can still remember the fun times we had. Our interests, opinions, personalities, and styles may have changed, but we can’t look back on our former selves with any shame or despair. The most important thing we can do is reconcile who we were with who we have become, and find inner peace within the memories that have shaped us.

We can never live in the past, but we can hold on to the lessons it has taught us. — Tweet this!