Making Peace With What Was & What Is

We spend a large part of our lives comparing ourselves with the world around us. Sometimes it is about appearance how someone else looks more attractive or confident. Sometimes it is about lifestyle how effortlessly they seem to walk, talk, or live. And sometimes, it goes even deeper: when we can’t find anything in the present to compare with, we turn toward our own past.

We measure ourselves against who we “used to be” the younger, more energetic, more hopeful version of us. And in that silent competition with our own shadow, we often feel defeated. This constant comparison whether with others or our past selves slowly steals away our inner peace.

But let us pause for a moment and ask: What exactly are we comparing?

A Story of Yesterday and Today

I once met a young man who carried a heaviness in his heart. He used to be a topper in school, adored by teachers and respected by peers. But in his college years, things shifted life threw challenges, his grades slipped, and suddenly he wasn’t “the best” anymore. Years later, even though he had a good job and a stable life, he felt empty. He said, “I’m not who I used to be. I failed myself.”

What he didn’t realize was that his past success had prepared him for resilience, and his present life was quietly teaching him patience, humility, and empathy. He was so stuck in his “yesterday” that he couldn’t see the gift of his “today.”

This is where we must remember the past is a place to visit, not a place to stay.

Lessons Hidden in the Present

Every incident, whether pleasant or painful, carries a hidden message. Sometimes a heartbreak teaches us the strength to rebuild ourselves. Sometimes a failure whispers the courage to try again. And sometimes, a loss redirects us toward something more meaningful than what we originally wanted.

When we stop resisting and start listening to these lessons, we realize that life is not punishing us it is guiding us. Every redirection is a way of being nudged toward something more real, something for which we are truly meant.

Gratitude is the bridge here. When we begin to say “Thank you” for the people who left, for the opportunities we lost, for the doors that closed, we discover that each of them was silently opening a better path.

Making Peace With “What Was”

Peace does not come from erasing the past. Peace comes from embracing it, acknowledging that what happened was part of your story, but not the end of it.

Think of your past like a book you once read. It shaped you, it moved you, it taught you but you don’t live inside that book anymore. You carry the lessons forward, but you continue writing new chapters.

And in those chapters, you hold the pen.

The Gift of “What Is”

The present moment however ordinary it may look is precious. It is the only place where life truly happens. The smile of a loved one, the warmth of sunlight through your window, the little victories that go unnoticed, this is where peace resides.

When we stop comparing, when we stop dragging yesterday into today, we make space in our heart for harmony. That harmony doesn’t mean life will be perfect it simply means that within the chaos, you have found a quiet center.

And that quiet center will make each day a wonderful one.

Peace is not in fixing what was, but in living fully with what is. When you learn to make peace with both, you will realize you never really lost anything. Life was only redirecting you, step by step, toward who you were always meant to be.