What mindfulness teaches us is that we cannot control the past because it doesn’t exist. The only moment we have is now, and that moment will be gone is a flash.
However, Life is in constant change and history can greatly empower our mindfulness, because at any one time had a slightly different path been taken or a decision swung a different way, the entire course of history would have been different.
This knowledge is where history and mindfulness complement each other, because we know that we have power in that moment, right now, to make a positive change- to create our own history.
If we use history as a map for modern living, it becomes too easy to label, judge and make perceptions of others. Much negativity is a result of people holding onto history rather than living in the moment.