The past should be a stepping-stone to building a better future. But by bringing memories into the present, and dealing with those, we all ourselves to move on from our past.
I use my own past as a reference point on how I can do things better, so I create a better world for me and my family, so that I am content.
Without a reference point, we may fail to learn how to change our future. A past that has all the right undertones attached to it, won't always entice personal growth in the way a troubled past does.
Although we cannot escape our past, it still represents a life lived. It is important to learn how not to let history repeat itself into a new generation.