Yesterday

Okay, so the past of an individual is important for several different reasons, and at the end of the day, there’s something about our past that must be kept in perspective.

I think it’s easier for us to begin this conversation with what we must keep in perspective, and that’s two things. Our past, all the years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds leading up to this current moment tell the story of how we arrived at the present moment. All of the choices we made and everything we’ve experienced made us who we are, and for that, we must make peace with our past.

What does that mean?

In our past, we’ve done things, we’ve made decisions, and we’ve had experiences that; made us proud, brought laughter and joy, made us feel guilty or shameful, scared us and those who loved us, did or didn’t make sense, and we probably came close to dying a few times. We fought, we cried, we made friends, and we lost friends.

At some point, issues from the past must be resolved or celebrated, we forgive, we thank, and then, we must close the door or file all that stuff away.

The second thing is that the past must be let go of. No matter how hard it is to do, we must let go of it because you cannot live in the present moment and the past at the same time. Life is growth, so if you’re still stuck on something that happened twenty years ago, you’re not living.

In a sense, we’re like planets. It takes us 365.25 days to run one lap around the sun, and upon completion, we get a year older. Did you ever notice how the planets go retrograde when they’re entering a new sign? Pluto for example, as it was entering Aquarius for the first time in a long time, crossed over the Capricorn and Aquarius border into Aquarius for a short time. Then, Pluto went retrograde back into Capricorn for a brief time before blazing a trail forward back into Aquarius.

This retrograde motion is a planet retracing its steps, tying up lose ends, and making sure everything is good before it moves forward. They’re making peace with the sign they were previously in.

When it comes to moving forward, I have something of great value to share with you. For many years, I had an addiction to pain medication, and to help me resolve that issue, I took another medication.

During that time, I was in the prime of my life, and I actually applied or tried to become a police officer several times. That career never worked out for me, and I know personally, that if I wasn’t addicted to pain medication, it probably would’ve become a police officer, and I would’ve been successful.

Many years passed by, and I missed out on some really good opportunities. Then, at one point, I ran out of medication, and I had to go a day or two without it. My body began to heal, and during those two days, I saw for the first time since applying to become a police officer, billboard signs on the highway about joining the police force.

This was an incredible revelation because it showed me that even though I thought I was moving forward and progressing, my addiction actually stunted my growth and mentally, it kept me stuck in the past. My vision was literally limited.

What I wanted to tell you is that if you decide to escape life with drugs and end up forming an addiction, your life stops as soon as your addiction begins. It will not resume until you get sober. So, think about that.

You must progress, move on and forward, and grow. If you’re around people that keep you stuck in the past because they refuse to move forward, then you have to get away from them. Not everyone is capable of making peace with their past. If you want, you can help them, but don’t let them drag you into their hole.

Sometimes, people get so mad at me because they say I’ve changed. You should be changing, and if you’re not, then there’s a problem. You shouldn’t be the person you were twenty years ago, right now today.

You past is important because it’s the path you took to get where you are today. So, if something doesn’t make sense now, or if you’re suddenly feeling lost, or like you’ve made the wrong decision at some point, you can always go back to your past and reflect.