Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these days?” for it is not wise to ask that. — Ecclesiastes 7.10
How can Solomon make such a blanket statement?
The past almost always produces in our perceptions the illusion of stability. But what if every age is an age of transition?
If every age is an age of transition, the transition of the immediate present will always seems so difficult that every age in the past will be remembered as an age of stability. For one thing, other people dealt with past transitions. We the living are dealing with our own perceived disruptions. Actual experience and stress is always more vivid than records of the trials of other people who have long departed. Also, the perceived heritage of the past is perceived as a given that we are accustomed to, while the future is indeterminate and therefore threatening.
Egypt is always remembered as easy.
Thus the trap of trying to go back to a better time.
The common delusions of remembered youth may also be a factor here. About the time you start to get really aware of how life works life has changed from what it was when you were younger. But when you were younger you were protected from much of how life worked. So you think, always, of a past that was more stable than the future.
Time is real and it only goes in one direction. God wants you to trust him for it. The next year is always supposed to be better.