“Never be a prisoner of your past. It was just a lesson, not a life sentence.”
Easier said than done, but there’s great wisdom there. It’s so easy to dwell upon the past as if it’s right in front of us, right here and now. And for some, that’s exactly how it feels: Powerful old messages and experiences—our baggage—influencing all of our decisions, small and large, casting a loud vote about our happiness.
Consider this, from Eckhart Tolle: “The past has no power to stop you from being present now. Only your grievance about the past can do that. And what is a grievance? The baggage of old thought and emotion.”
And from Osho: If you suffer it is because of you. If you feel blissful it is because of you. Nobody else is responsible—only you.