"And yet you  hear people complaining about this present day and age because things were so much better in former times. I wonder what would happen if they could be taken back to the days of their ancestors--would we not still hear them complaining? You may think past ages were good, but it is only because you are not living in them." (St. Augustine) It is the same as the adage: the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence. Lot's wife looked back to Sodom with longing and so was frozen in that past. During the Exodus journey, the Israelites longed for the flesh pots of Egypt and they died in the desert without seeing the Promised Land. We are given the present moment to make the best of. The past is gone. The future is not, nor is it guaranteed. The past was no more perfect than the present. The grace of God for me is in  the present moment. How I respond to that grace will impact the future. I can learn from the past but can't go back. God is the God of the present. So live and make the best of the now!