There is no doubt about the fact that nothing goes waste in life, every trait and every extra bit of knowledge gained always helps in circumstances without even much speculating. The things that we think are irrelevant also come in handy in situations of uncertainty. The only thing that matters is to trace the dots backward and come up with ways to implement things in life. The utility of any acquired trait is met the day when it is applied in real-life for the better good of the people involved. Otherwise, there is no significance to anything.
People fear to do different things because they doubt the application and the scope of trying to learn something absolutely different, there is also an added notion of being judged by the others for the same. No matter how complex the situation gets, everything still paves the way for learning something new. The example of Steve Jobs dropping out of college and learning calligraphy to try out something new in life made a way to feeding fonts into the laptop when he was designing the first Macintosh and today every laptop, every computer has a varied list of fonts that can be used to make things look fancy, this won’t have been possible if he won’t have traced the dots backward to apply his knowledge.
The past always has relevance to the future, but it need not be regret always. It can also act as a motivation to not to do the mistakes that have been committed and take the good that has always existed in life till the end. The essence of being grounded and still well connected to the traits and family values that have been imbibed to be carried in the future brings in a sense of comfort and also facilitates adapting to the changes in life.