Put your past in your behind
(The Lion King)
I am the sum of my story.
Who I am today is a result of each day that has led me to this point.
Births
deaths hurts
joys celebrations
tears victories mistakes
choices places
people lessons
...these things have made me me.
But what if I decided that that was all there is? That the things that have happened were the only things that mattered. What if I lived longing for the happy times that once were? What if I let the hurts determine my attitude.
I've struggled with living in the past, with letting it define me. I've given myself labels - 'child of divorce', 'runaway', 'rejected friend'. For a long time, my tag line, the thing that described me best could have been "I have issues". I can't count the number of times I told people that. And it was true. I did have issues, but the biggest issue I had was that I didn't want to let go of my issues. I held on to them tightly, until they became so engrained in me, that I didn't have a clue how to deal with them.
I don't think I'm alone.
The guilty live bound by the mistakes of their past.
The bitter live trapped by the injustice they've suffered in the past.
The self-pitying live under the weight of past hurts.
The disappointed live clinging to past hope that has been lost.
The hopeless live fighting with past failures.
But the wise, they live in the light of the past, letting it explain but not define who they are. Looking to the past can be a powerful thing if we use it in the right way. Who you are now may bear the scars of the past, but that's ok. A scar is a memory of a healed wound. It is part of you but it does not affect you like a raw and tender open wound. There is no shame in a scar, but just make sure you don't keep picking the top off the scab, not allowing the wound to heal.
The past happened.
Now it's time to heal.
It is up to you what you let
define
control
bind you.
Don't let it be something which is no more.
No comments:
Post a Comment