I have heard a famous NBA basketball player once say that "you can tell when you are getting old when you talk more about what you have done rather than what you are going to do." I personally think that the past is a good measuring stick for the future. Some use their past victories or failures to inspire future victories. Some use past victories or failures to keep them living in the past, unable to move forward.
The key about the past is to use it for something positive. If you have great memories about past victories, use them to inspire and motivate in the present and future. If you have failures or negative memories about the past, use them as lessons learned and as a foundation of experience that leads to a positive future.
You have to make that choice though. You will never be satisfied with yourself if you are not living up to the potential that you know lies within. That is where self worth and self confidence comes from. It is about being the best that you can be. If you were fit and active 10 years ago and are not now, you will not be happy with yourself. You know that a higher potential lies within. Many try to excuse themselves by blaming busy schedules, old age, or the nagging knee injury from that one Jr. Varsity basketball game 25 years ago.
We all have more potential than we will probably ever realize but the goal should be to reach for new levels of victory. Whether it be a weight loss goal, a fitness standard, or to be a better parent, settle for nothing less than your best. If you were a success in the past, you know the potential is there to be a success in the future. If the past holds failures and defeats, you have no where to go but up. The best is yet to come.