this is a powerful understanding. to just think about it, that we are already living an eternal life, but it is being hidden from us because we are not ready yet psychologically to deal with it.
there's good reasons for it - many past lives are probably absolutely horrible, traumatic things. being abused, slaves, being tortured and murdered and raped and witnessing this as well.
it essentially is basically a survival mechanism. but if you can come to grips with the idea, and be ready to remember, maybe things conspire to bring it to you. i had one experience one time of a brief flash of a past life that involved me and my girlfriend at the time. it was scary. and i also had inklings at that same time of memories of people who had jumped off the waterfall where this experience happened, some 100 metres up. felt even, like maybe the trigger that caused the recollection was being in the place where a past version of me did this.
but put aside the negative parts of having a continuous identity that crosses the boundary of death, for a moment, and consider how this can change your ability to act in the face of the demands of your current situation. in the italian cyberpunk movie "Nirvana" a character in it, who goes by the name "Naima" referred to it as "Karma Yoga" and this refers to the process of doing what you are called to do, even if it means your death.
this is something that also all martyrs of all religions fighting against evil have had to face, and be able to integrate into their current identity.
there is no glory in simply throwing your current life away, only, in doing what you are called to do. the most important thing is opening up to the voice that tells you. this voice is your eternal identity, and is a branch of the tree of the origin of all in the universe, and beyond, aka God.
but it is something of a super power, to be aware, that what you want to do, in your heart, does not mean the end of your life, even if in this time and temporarily, that literally happens.
to die serving this, is true glory, but so is living to serve it.
so, whatever it is that is inside you, that wells up sometimes, that urges you forward to what you feel called to. listen. get better at listening. even if you slip, and fall into that abyss, at some point all of it will be returned to your consciousness, if not in this life, but when the time is ripe and all are called to it.
i think this time is coming soon for us here on this prison planet. we are earning our stripes and the reward will come soon.