Step #15: Build a Bridge...Get over it.

Hindsight may be 20/20 but its still looking back. If you were supposed to look back all the time you would have eyes on your shoulder blades or an ass on the front.

Both- VERY unattractive looks.

I'm all for self-reflection and learning from your mistakes but, obsessing over them makes for a stand still in real time or even a dangerous procession into the future.

Regardless of the what the past entails, it halts you. It's gridlock. You can't move forward if you're looking backward---physics does not allow it. (My mother would be so proud that my brain retained something remotely scientific.) No amount of analysis will change it, no amount of self-assault will make it better or worse, no amount of wishing, hoping or praying will change the outcome. It's passed. It's over.

Yes, we're shaped by these experiences but, I've found that dwelling too long among them begins to erode that shape. What's left looks like something made in a beginner's ceramics class. I don't want to be a poor excuse for an ashtray/vase/clay pot combo. I want to be chiseled from marble (don't we all); with each experience adding more detail.

Appreciate what's happened to you, don't try to define it. Take it all as the materials that give you definition. Move forward, get through your own bullshit, whether it be self-inflicted or otherwise. There's a reason your eyes are in the front and your ass in the back. It's best for everyone. Trust me on this one.