Tadany Um refúgio para a alma e um convite à consciência.
There are countless possible approaches, but a simple and deeply illuminating analogy can help us. The leftovers thrown into the trash yesterday are not used to prepare today’s meal. This is an obvious, everyday fact, yet it carries a powerful lesson.
By Acharya Tadany Cargnin dos Santos.
Published in Diário de Santa Maria, January 1, 2026.
The past is, in essence, a point of reference. It is not a place where we live, but a territory we pass through in order to arrive at the present moment. Yet, for many people, the past ceases to be merely memory and becomes a dwelling, a prison, or a burden. The way we relate to it largely defines the quality of our present life.
Generally speaking, we follow two distinct paths when we look back. First, when memories evoke happy experiences, achievements, or meaningful moments, they can serve as a source of inspiration, encouraging us to move forward, to dream, and to persevere. In this case, the past fulfils a healthy role, i.e., it illuminates the present without imprisoning it.
On the other hand, when memory is associated with painful, frustrating, or humiliating episodes, a greater challenge arises. Without discernment, such memories tend to turn into recurring ghosts that haunt the present and undermine any desire for change. One begins to relive, repeatedly, what has already ended, as if suffering were an unavoidable destiny.
In light of this, a natural question emerges: how should we deal with a past that still hurts?
There are countless possible approaches, but a simple and deeply illuminating analogy can help us. The leftovers thrown into the trash yesterday are not used to prepare today’s meal. This is an obvious, everyday fact, yet it carries a powerful lesson.
We do not turn to what has spoiled to nourish the present. Likewise, it makes no sense to seek, in putrid memories, the ingredients necessary to build a lighter and healthier life now.
This analogy clearly illustrates what we might call psycho-emotional cleansing. To preserve well-being in the present, it is essential to avoid using limiting, painful, or demeaning memories as the foundation for our current decisions.
The past cannot be altered. We cannot change what happened, the people involved, or the consequences that were lived. Insisting on this is a waste of vital energy in a battle that has already ended.
Therefore, resurrecting grievances that exist only in memory brings neither justice, nor repair, nor growth. It brings only repetition. And this repetition is a choice, even if an unconscious one. There are things that only each individual can avoid: feeding resentment, reliving guilt, perpetuating narratives that no longer serve any purpose.
By consciously applying this analogy—by not cooking the present with leftovers from the past—a genuine process of inner liberation begins. Gradually, it becomes possible to transcend limiting beliefs, old conditionings, and imposed or self-imposed memories that still keep us confined.
When this liberation occurs, something subtle and profound reveals itself. A new dawn appears on the horizon of life. With it emerge dormant talents, forgotten potentials, and a creative energy once suffocated by the weight of yesterday. One begins to live with greater presence, clarity, and emotional dignity.
Essentially, dealing with the past does not mean denying it, but placing it in its proper place. It has fulfilled its role. The now, however, demands fresh ingredients. And it is only in the present that life can truly be lived.
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Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash
