Imitating the Past?

Phallosopher

Space Monkey
space monkey
Joined
Jun 6, 2018
Messages
13
Hey guys,

So, I'm writing because I seem to be at a low point in various ways. I used to have so much control over things that I didn't even notice physiological manifestations of stress or anything like that... I was pretty unconscious of how my body felt (unless a girl was tending to it) and my mind was always very well controlled and directed, by me.

Anyway, I could think back to the good old days (what I described above was pretty much the case in a great way through my late teens and early 20s. I could think back to the good old days and try to recall what drove that and figure out how to imitate it. Back then though, it was pretty much effortless and unconscious; but, if I'm posting here it's clearly because I'm planning some kind of effort. So now for my question...

Do you guys think there is any point to looking back to the past for answers?

I mean, it's well worn cliche that it's useful to study history because then you won't make the same mistakes twice (or you can repeat the same good thing again maybe). But on the other hand, spending a bunch of time ruminating on what was and thinking it should be that way again definitely violates the concepts in here of "sprezzatura" and "devil may care attitude" and things like that. It's also a bit uncertain because obviously things change... not in a "good" or "bad" way necessarily... but I mean, I've had experiences that can't be undone in the past 10 years since high school, and I've also of course aged physiologically (even if just a little bit). So I wonder if it's light trauma, being highly aware of that maybe 1% drop in my testosterone since the height of puberty? Who knows... one thing is clear, which is that if I spend a lot of time overanalyzing the hell out of this I'll be messing up. So I figured I'd see what the men of the forum had to say on the matter if you guys have anything useful.

So if anyone could tell me how you go about using (or not) your past high points to inform your present and future, that would be cool.
 

no_more_mr_niceguy

Rookie
Rookie
Joined
Sep 5, 2018
Messages
4
I struggled with similar thoughts as well. I am now in my late twenties and it has been quite an existential crisis. I think the problem is life, life is not as good as we expect it to be and we tend to look for answers in the past. "what if I had done this differently" etc.. The truth is that we would have asked ourselves this regardless. There is no "right way" and even the best way (which we have no way of knowing it is was the best, because we can't live of different paths) will leave us disappointed.
A good approach IMO has a touch of resignation. Times come and go, pleasures of the past were not as good as we remember them, and in the end life is nothing but a mediocre journey. Even for the rich and famous.
 
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