Moving on from the Past

Escape the skeletons in the closet
illustrationIs there anyone whose closet is free of skeletons?
We’ve all done things we regret. Sometimes we hope our mistakes have been forgotten but too often their effects linger and are inescapable.
The past is established and immutable. There’s nothing we can do about it … well, except to keep it behind us and move on.
This is not to belittle consequence. We and, maybe more importantly, others have to live with what we have done. But the future is all about possibility and potential and need not be crippled by the past.
Who you were need not define who you are, still less who you can be.
We all know how important it is that someone who has been addicted to drugs or alcohol or anything else is ever alert to the danger of relapse. Addiction is an incurable disease. But here’s a controversial Thought: maybe calling ourselves “recovering addicts” can sometimes focus too much on where we were, not where we are or where we are going.
We should not deny the past but neither should we be enslaved by it.
Move on. Look to the future. Strive to become. Let the daemons gnaw on their own memories, not on your potential.
Those who are blind to the past are doomed to repeat it but those whose eyes are fixed on it are doomed to stumble and never move forward.
You messed up. Move on.