Don’t Trip Over What Is Behind You

The past deserves to be acknowledged. It deserves to be understood. It may even deserve to be grieved. But it DOES NOT DESERVE unlimited authority over what happens next.

Most of us have something lying behind us that we continue to trip over. A mistake we keep reworking in our minds. A decision we would make differently today. Something another person said that knocked us off balance. A relationship that ended. An opportunity missed. A former identity that no longer fits. Or how about shame over what we did before we knew what we know now. We can not change what happened. But we can change what we continue to carry.

There is a difference between remembering the past and dragging it behind us. One offers wisdom. The other becomes weight. Look back only long enough to understand what happened. Then take responsibility for what belongs to you. Then forgive yourself for what you did not know. BUT, keep the lesson. Then leave behind what no longer deserves to travel with you.

You do not need to erase the past in order to move forward. You simply need to stop letting it block the path. A mistake is something you made. It is NOT something you are. The past may explain you, but it does not get to keep deciding you.

So take the lesson. Leave the luggage. Then turn around, face forward, and pick up your foot. What happened is behind you. Try not to trip over it.

💚 The Accidental Blogger