Don't Look Behind You

You're staring at a blank computer screen. You want to write. You want to express yourself. You want to make sense of something that has happened to you. Or something that is still happening. Maybe not to you, maybe to somebody else. You're trying to layout your life into small bitesize and digestible chunks of text for people to read and understand. Maybe if I write it this way then more people will understand it. Maybe if I take out this bit then people won't be offended or upset. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Maybe you're hoping to make some money by publishing your story, your journey, your struggles. Because that's one way to make difficult things feel like they've come to some justice. There's nothing more daunting. It's an interesting phenomenon we've come to experience in modern day society where not only does everybody think they have a story to tell, everybody DOES have a story to tell. The problem is, how do we tell our stories in a way that is impactful and positive?

There is definitely something to be said for taking the time to look back at your past and how it has shaped you to be the person you are today. Saying that, I am a strong believer that the past does not have to shape you, instead it should show you. It should show you the mistakes you have made so you don't make them again. Show you how to live forward-facing and looking for better in your future than it may have been in the past. Show you the puzzle pieces that have been put together to make you who you are today and place you exactly where you needed to be, which is here.

Be radical, acknowledge the past but do not let it grab hold of your hair and drag you backwards, scraping your skin on the tarmac beneath you as you go. Acknowledge the past but do not let it hold your gaze so long that you can no longer see the present moment in focus, that you're too distracted looking in the wrong direction that you fail to see the path that's right in front of you. The past is a beautiful thing, and a painful thing, something to let shape you but not let control you. It's not an easy thing to accomplish but I promise once you learn to take control of the areas of your past that you let come forward into your present day you will feel invincible. It is a process though, and nobody has managed it entirely even if they say they have. It's something you must do everyday when you wake up, tell yourself you're in control of your own future regardless of your past.

It's a difficult thing to process, everybody's past is full of flowers - alive or dying. Look back long enough to paint a picture of those flowers but don't let yourself be caught in their presence, tangled in their wilting petals. Take that painting and hold it close to your heart, you don't need to look at it but keep it with you and let yourself feel it. Then raise your eyes to the present moment and see which direction those flowers are growing towards, where those flowers have taken you and what path you're being called to now. Don't forget, flowers always grow towards the sunshine.

I'm encouraging you today, don't let your past define you in any way you do not want to be defined. You are empowered and you are strong and those flowers are a beautiful, if sometimes painful, reminder of the steps that have brought you to the place you are in - which is exactly where you are meant to be. Don't look behind you, at least not for too long.