Formulating the problem II: a more specific evaluation

This part more specifically deals with a problem of someone dear to me, but also extremely similar to a problem I faced myself. This is my proposed solution, and also how I handled my demon. The issue can be formulated as below:

How to define and deal with the atrocities and injustices of the past?

The problem here is to formulate the nature of the event that has taken place, to dress your understanding of the past in fitting words.

I shall take an quite spectacular event as example; the holocaust

There are (at least) two major narratives about this atrocious historical event: one secular understanding of the holocaust as the height of human cruelty, an evil deed and unnecessary loss of numerous human lives. The secular strand builds museums, and teaches the history to prevent that something similar from occurring in the future. And another you can find embedded in the orthodox and ultraorthodox Jewish communities, phrasing the holocaust as an intrinsic event occurring due to the sinful living of the Jewish people, a punishment from god. The Jewish strand builds communities, and teaches the scriptures to avert the reoccurrence of similar events in the future. The Jewish narrative, blaming the Jews for the holocaust, can be perceived as extremely provoking for someone with a secular understanding of the event, but the secular understanding is also unthinkable for many Jews as it would render the past a manifestation of pure misery and evil with no meaning and reason to it, and that would be truly difficult to handle.

I would say that the question is creating the answer in your case so think carefully about how you formulate it, or if you formulate it at all even. The latter would be my suggestion, leave it - don't let the past destroy the present as well. Depending on the question asked the answers can be pretty nasty, blame can rightfully be pointed in several directions towards others as well as towards you.

To be more specific about the problem I can say that it has to do with the question whether a period of time was wasted or not. Since we both like logic I’ll put my solution to the problem as a syllogism:

All wasted time are pointless.
No thing described as pointless has meaning
No period of time that contains any meaning can be classified as wasted

Now, conclude that it wasn’t meaningless, maybe it wasn’t the best spent time of your life, but was it wasted? I don’t think so, and also, does it matter now? Maybe, but only to the extent you allow it to matter. Don’t let the sour grapes of your past poison the air of the present, instead; lift your nose and realise that not only can you see beyond it, but also use it to scent the fresh breeze of the future.

Time is scarce, to use it to dwell on the wrongs of the past would truly be to waste it, and that my friend would, strictly speaking, be idiotic.