Forget the past.

“Forget the past.” Thus spoke Nelson Mandela, a man who bore chains, exile, and injustice for nearly three decades, yet emerged not with vengeance but with vision. In these three words lies the power of rebirth: the understanding that clinging to old wounds binds the soul as tightly as prison walls. To forget the past is not to erase memory, but to refuse its chains; it is to rise unburdened by bitterness, free to walk into the future.

The ancients too knew this truth. They told of Lot’s wife, who looked back and turned to stone, a warning that to dwell in what has already died is to lose the life still ahead. They told of Odysseus, who longed for home but had to let go of the Trojan war and all its horrors to build anew. Forgetting the past is not denial—it is the wisdom to let go of the weight that cripples the journey forward.

Mandela himself lived these words. After twenty-seven years in Robben Island’s prison, he emerged into a nation brimming with anger, ripe for revenge. Many expected him to wield his suffering as a weapon. But he did not. He declared instead that South Africa must forget the past of hatred and oppression, lest it devour itself in vengeance. He led by example, shaking the hands of those who once shackled him. In that act, he proved that the past has power only if we feed it. His strength lay in building the future, not avenging the past.

Consider also the story of Japan after the Second World War. The nation lay in ruin, scarred by defeat and atomic fire. Yet instead of dwelling on the humiliation of surrender, its leaders and people turned their eyes to renewal. They worked with relentless resolve to rebuild, and within decades Japan rose as a symbol of innovation and endurance. The past was not forgotten in memory, but forgotten in spirit—it was no longer allowed to dictate the course of destiny.

O children of tomorrow, take this to heart: to forget the past is an act of strength. Anyone can remember; anyone can cling to grudges, replay failures, and relive sorrows. But it takes a mighty soul to lay them down, to say, “This will no longer rule me.” Forgetting is not weakness—it is liberation, the reclaiming of life from the ghosts of yesterday.

The lesson is plain: you cannot walk forward if your eyes are fixed behind you. Practically, let each person do this: when old wounds rise in memory, acknowledge them, then release them. Write them down, then burn the page. Speak them aloud, then lay them to rest. Choose daily to invest your energy in the building of what is yet to come, not the ruins of what has passed. This is the way of freedom.

Thus remember Mandela’s words: “Forget the past.” They are not an invitation to ignorance, but a call to liberation. For the past cannot be changed, but the future can still be shaped. And those who dare to release yesterday’s chains will walk as Mandela walked—scarred, yes, but unshackled, and free to build a new dawn.