Serious Reminiscing and Nostalgia

[Mitsuki]

I'm in a sentimental mood, so bear with me. How do you feel when it comes to reminiscing about your past? Do you look back and wonder if you've led a great expedition so far, or do you regret the many choices you've made throughout your life? How did your choices in life affect who you are now or the person you would have liked to be?

Isn't it funny how we can remember things from our earliest memories, and you look back and feel nostalgia wash over you? To me, that is probably the best and worst feeling of all. The best as to which it reminds us of our innocence, and the worst as it makes us want to turn back time but know that we cannot.

I remember a lot of things from my childhood. They were all great adventures, from hiking up on the mountains and forests, watching the beautiful waterfalls from a distant, getting lost in the big city of Manila, to exploring the train tracks and looking for empty bottles to sell at the vendors. I want to go back to that place and time - to my childhood years.

There are so many more that I can remember...and so many more that I cannot remember, and that saddens me greatly, for I always want to keep holding on to those memories. I'm sure many of you have felt this way, and yet we also want to forget some of our earliest memories for they aren't as rich and memorable. These are the kind of memories that we want to pluck out of our lives...like the weeds, but save the pretty flowers.

Each day, I feel closer to adulthood, not just the legal status of which, but everything that it encompasses. As I sort through my personal history, I am learning to release the things that are useless - regret, anger, humiliation resentment - and reclaim the pieces of myself I have lost throughout the years.

Mistakes will never be forgotten, but I've learned to put it behind me and move on, taking a step forward back to that road that has misled me so many times. When I see that fork that leads left and right, maybe then I'll look back down the road and carefully reflect on my mistakes and choices in life, before choosing the right path. I'll be sure to then walk blindly, but happily towards it. Through the novelty and the nostalgia, through the darkness and the light, and through the tears and laughters...the journey of self-discovery is an enchanting one.

 

[Warbsywoo]

Obviously I haven't live that long but there are some times, fittingly, that I look back on my childhood. Yes, it was fun and all, but I never let things that happened in the past stay in the present.
That's strictly for fun. =D

Of my many not so fun anecdotes, I remember the most the times when I slipped and fell into hard gravel or something like that. Those are obviously the ones that stick with me the most.
Our present lives are built with what we have done in the past, so I respect my past, and as I have said, choose to respect it only.

 

[Jack's Smirking Revenge]

There are a few choices that I regret from my past - things that I should have or not have said or done. They aren't too big, and I think it's foolish to think on things like these for too long, as it won't help you current siuation or the future. I learn from my mistakes, as we all do, and I use these to influence my decisions for the future, and if I find myself regretting the decision, I still go along with it. The way I look at things is that if you make a bad choice, then you have to go throught with it still, because you chose to. After all, what's the worst that could happen? Usually in about a weeks time, everything sorts itself out anyway.

Of course, there're decisions and choices that I couldn't be happier with, and these are the best ones (obviously). If I hadn't chose to go out the night that I met my girlfriend, then we wouldn't have met. I couldn't be any happier with that choice.

 

[Moogles]

I feel nostalgic sometimes.

I miss the days when Kingdom Hearts was a fresh game. My first playthrough was epic. I'll never have that again.

I also find myself missing elementary school. We had snack time, recess, nap time...all kinds of great times n' such!

Ah, the good ol' days.

 

[Archangel]

Yes I remenice alot on my past. I've had a rough childhood and had to grow up pretty early. As you grow up as Mituski said alot of the bad areas that swirl around in your mind (humiliation was a big one) you must deal with them and move on menatally. Some people don't ever move on from petty things that happen in there life. Growing up and building resentment till it explodes. Va. Tech shooting for example

My brother has a very hard time with this, more than once he has flipped out about something mean I did to him from ages past. But by the time he confronted me with these issues it was in a fit of rage about little things. I would then calm hin down apoligize and explain my point of view. After which he felt knida silly for flipping out over such petty things. He never put them to rest in his mind, causing a build up of which he harbored.


Another point Mitsuki makes I can hardly remeber what I got for christmas or birthdays when I was a kid. But the vacations to the beach and mountains I can remeber very clearly. Even though I was like 5-7 years old. Family trips to me are so much more important to a child leaving behind fond memories that are harly forgotten. Gifts of massive amounts of toys will break and long be forgotten.

 

[Kandy-Sugar]

I find that every so often I will look back on previous years and wonder if I made the right choices and where I would be if I had the confidence I have now, back then.

I always wish that I could go back and fix things, thinking that I could make my life better if I did things a certain way, opposed to how I handled situations back then when I was younger.

I find then that I start to regret decisions I've made instead of taking into account that these decisions have changed me for the better and have taken me places that I may not have gotten to without making them.

I made the biggest mistake of my life back in 2007 and if it was not for that HUGE mistake I would not have met Steve the way I did or as early as I did.

It's taken me time to turn these negative thoughts into positive ones.

I mean without the mistakes I've made on my own I wouldn't have learnt the many lessons I've learnt on my own. It's just not the same as learning them from other peoples experiences.

I still have my days where I regret my past, but I'm getting better at turning those moments in my life into something positive.

It doesn't help to dwell on the past at all and think 'What if'. >.<

I am starting to miss my teenage years all the same. Good or bad I miss being younger and the way things used to be with friends. When you work the life seems to be sucked out of you a tad more and you don't have the energy you once had. =/

 

[The Illusive Man]

Oh I'm an absolute pain for remaniscing and getting nostalgic.

It seems to be more of a daily occurance for me, sometimes I'll just sit and think to myself before I go to sleep or when I have a quiet moment about better days.

I often sit and think about stuff like being back at college with the lads on some of the wacky nights out we have been on, I also think about school years too and the mischief we got up to during the school holidays that always brings a slight smile to my face and a little chuckle if the memory was of something particulary funny.

On the odd occasion I do tend to think about bad things that have happened in my past as well, the relationships that broke down horribly, the day I found out I was being cheated on when I was 18 by my ex-fiance, the downward spiral I went on after a close friend was laid to rest and of course the contemplation of how things never went quite according to plan in my life.

I often look at the hindsight and realise the lessons it as taught me, I would no be the individual I am today without the past, but to let this past become me would be a destruction of the character I am, memories are memories and the only thing that has any impact on the future is the person I am today!

 

[Big Casino]

I think about the past way to much. . most of the time its not a good thing even when the memory involved is a nice one.

SOmetimes il think about a memory, a really happy one and although its a nice thing it just kinda gets me down a little as i know that things arent like that anymore, time passes and things change alot. Then i get annoyed at myself for thinking over something thats done and over with whereas instead i should be looking at now and at the future.

Im not one for fretting over wrong and bad choices that ive made, funnily enough that doesnt bother me a whole lot although given an opportunity theres plenty of things i would change but im not one to sit and think about that to the point where im really annoyed by it.

I put it down to this point in my life not being the best of times, im not out for sympathy but this iis probadly the roughest patch ive been through yet so far in my life, so i guess its natural to look back at all the good times and just feel a little sad and annoyed that things arent that way anymore. Yeah i kno i know thats life isnt it but wer only human afterall.

Im 21 this year, i feel i should be grown up at a better stage in my life instead of doing things like posting on internet forums chatting to folk on msn etc. When i was a kid this aint what i envisioned doing at this age. I think i feel a bit dissapointed in myself for being where i am. Maybe thats a result of setting my ambitions and dreams too high when i was young, when you grow up everything changes and you come to deal with the world in a much more hands on perspective.

I guess when i said that i didnt dwell on worng choices too much i was slightly lying because i do feel shit about all the days ive wasted and the things i couldve done but didnt. Id hate to be feeling the same way another 10 years down the line, thatd be horrible. I think i just need a change of scenery at this point in my life, ive thought about it alot but always put it off but its something im gunna have to do. Il be gratefull later on in the years to come.

Hahaha yeah that went a bit off topic i think but its a nice topic.

 

[Rydia]

Sometimes I'll think about my childhood and remember the street that I grew up on and all the friends I had there. I remember going into one of my friend's basement and we would play his brother's super nintendo for hours or we'd go to my house and play Sega.

there were about ten kids on my street that were about my age. I remember making various clubs that would last only a day or too but they were fun. We'd have passwords and we'd make my family's screened in porch our club house. We'd also play hide and go seek around the neighborhood and we'd climb trees and laugh when someone climbed up too high and couldn't get back down. I haven't seen any of my childhood friends for over ten years because my family moved when I was 12.

I also think about people who are now gone. I remember going over my grandma's house to swim with my cousins and she always had snacks ready for us. She also had a lot of kids movies from the 80's that me and my cousins would watch together. The movies were special because none of our family's had them at our houses. My grandma died when I was about 12.

There are some things that I regret. I wasn't always nice to everyone and some people I really hurt. In high school I started rumers about some girls and now I wish i had never done that. I don't spend days on days worrying about that though.

I think it would be fun to revisit childhood when everything was carefree and innocent and I didn't have to worry about bills, or grades, or money. And I would also like to see my old friends again.

 

[blakstang98]

I tend to reminisce too much. For the most part, reminiscing for me is related to music or video games.

Naturally with video games, whenever I play an old NES game or possibly a Sega game, I start recalling memories from my youth and all the fun I used to have with them. It's funny, but when I think of Mario 3, I always remember getting that game for Christmas, back when I lived in Providence and I was probably like 6 or 7 years old at the time. I remember opening and playing it before my parents were awake. I was on the 2nd level by the time they woke up. This tends to branch off to me thinking about other games I used to play when I was younger like Mario 2, Little League and Excitebike. Then when we lived in Warwick, we would be up at all hours (me and either my cousin or best friend) playing games like Road Rash 2 or NHL 95 for Sega. Good times.

It's weird, but due to my photographic memory, I tend to tie music with my past relationships. Whenever I listen to Silverchair, I tend to think about my first ex, which makes me not listen to it much. I tend to not listen to the Sing the Sorrow CD by AFI or Getting Away with Murder by Papa Roach because of another ex. Those thoughts tend to depress me though, just because they were great times, but that relationship is gone now.