Accepting Your Past

This has to be one of the most powerful messages in Tyler Perry's film, "Madea Goes To Jail". After a fit full of laughs, Madea looks at us and makes a clear point..."Forgiveness is not for the other person. It's for you." Let's be real. We have that father that left us. We have that mother who did us wrong. We have that boy who betrayed us...over and over again. But, we cannot keep holding on to these unfortunate remnants of our pasts. No matter what happened in your past or who happened in your past, no matter how ugly it is, no matter who you think will judge you...How can we ever go forward if we insist of looking back?

I've been looking back for so long. I've been letting regret, remorse, and my mother's mistakes be my sole fuel for motivation for so long that it's consuming me. I mean... ultimately and utterly hurting me. A good friend of mine told me, "Hurt people HURT people"...and it put into perspective everything I've failed to realize. I can't expect to gain, if  I'm constantly holding on to my failures. Most importantly, I can't expect to love if I can't even forgive the people who didn't love me. See, life is supposed to be good... even despite the bad it may bring. However, we can't see the good if we keep putting ourselves in this endless cycle of experiencing the bad. A lot of situations, a lot of decisions, a lot relationships could have been saved if I would've listened to Madea..Forgiveness is not for the other person. It was for me.