The Past Is Not True

Metadata

• Author: Derek Sivers
• Full Title: The Past Is Not True
• Category: #articles
• Summary:
  When I was 17, I was driving recklessly and crashed into an oncoming car.
  I found out that I broke the other driver’s spine, and she’ll never walk again.

I carried that burden with me everywhere, and felt so horrible about it for so many years that at age 35 I decided to find this woman to apologize.
I found her name and address, went to her house, knocked on the door, and a middle-aged woman answered.
As soon as I said, “I’m the teenager that hit your car eighteen years ago and broke your spine”, I started sobbing - a big ugly cry, surfacing years of regret.
She was so sweet, and hugged me saying, “Oh sweetie, sweetie! Don’t worry. I’m fine!”
Then she walked me into her living room.
Walked.

Turns out the news had been miscommunicated.
Yes she fractured a couple vertebrae but it never stopped her from walking.
She said “that little accident” helped her pay more attention to her fitness, lose weight, and since then has been in better health than ever.
Then she apologized for causing the accident in the first p...

• URL: https://sive.rs/pnt

Highlights

• We think of the past like it’s a physical fact - like it’s real. But the past is what we call our memory and stories about it. Imperfect memories, and stories built on one interpretation of incomplete information. That’s “the past”. (View Highlight)
  • Note: Be careful believing in the past. It is influenced by faulty memories and perhaps incorrect facts as well.