Instead Of Living In The Past, Acknowledge How It’s Helped You Grow

Live in the now, not in the past. Challenge yourself to be present. The past happened for a reason — to teach you to be intuitive to your emotions, to listen to what feels right, and to seize opportunities when they arise.

When I reflect on what continues to bother me about the past, it was the critical moments I ignored my emotions, pushing them back down below the surface and never allowing them to show, for fear of being vulnerable.

I lost sight of what was right in the face of desperately trying to hold on to friendships that were never meant to last. I didn’t seize opportunities when I had the chance for my voice to be heard because I was afraid. I remember all the times when I could’ve expressed myself, yet stayed silent. 

I’m almost hesitant to stop living in the past, because there is familiarity and a strange comfort in old habits.

I’m hesitant to leave the memories behind, because it makes parting ways with people more final. I think of all the ‘what if’s’, the ‘what could be’s’, only leading to intrusive thoughts of self-doubt creeping into my head.

Continually living in the past is nothing but a cyclical routine of drowning under the weight of regret. It’s nothing but a source of frustration, isolation, and toxicity.

Go forward today. Learn your lessons and take them with you wherever you go. Break the old habits and recreate new ways. Your heart will mend, your mind will be calmed, and your soul will be renewed.

What is meant to happen — and who is meant to stay in your life — will come back to you. If not, release it from your thoughts and remember that your time was never wasted.

Because of the past, you are better now in the present.