“Our capacity for brilliance is equal to our capacity to forget the past. The only meaning of anything in the past is that it got us here, and should be honored as such. Give the past to Him Who can change your mind about it for you.”—Marianne Williamson
IF you’re a day over 21, you may have, at one point, found the need to forgive someone and “forget” something horrible done to you in the past. If you’re a human being with real and raw emotions, this may not be the easiest thing to do. The world, in all its glory, is filled with hurt people who are hiding behind the pretense that everything is OK.
When I was younger, I naively thought that menacing people woke up with one mission in mind and that was to “to hurt and conquer.”
However, as you grow older, you are faced with two shocking truths: a) they probably didn’t know they were hurting you and b) you may have also been the evil one unknowingly.
Dealing with our past can be difficult, most especially if we have been cheated out of something that we think was supposed to be for us but once we understand that the people involved were probably doing the best that they can with what they had at that time, we’d sleep better at night.
We’re not quick to point out this truth because our narcissistic selves refuse to believe that it absolutely had nothing to do with us.
The outcome would have been the same even if we tried harder, dressed differently, or even looked better. That person would have been the same either way because that person has issues that have nothing to do with us.
Trying to understand the past is also a futile waste of time simply because there’s nothing that can be done about it. We’ve been hurt and have hurt others as well, and the only way to go through life is not constantly seeking revenge by showing off a better life, but truly letting the hurt go and wishing the person well.
And while it’s not easy, it is possible, with just the right amount of maturity and belief that nothing escapes God’s eye, and everything that happens in our lives has a purpose and one day, we’ll look back at those events and be grateful for them because those things that hurt us ultimately made us better, but only if we allow it to.
And to end, this article is dedicated to my baby brother who is turning 21 tomorrow, you have always taught me to be strong, to forgive, and most importantly to always rise above. I can’t wait to see your dreams come true and for it to inspire a million others, happy, happy birthday!