Let The Ghost Die!

Have you ever really messed up?

If I ever decided to stop and take stock of all the mistakes I've made in my life, it would be a depressing day. I've missed opportunities, hurt feelings, and made many bad decisions. But I've made some really good ones as well!

Like me, I'm sure you've had plenty of reasons to quit in your life. There have been moments when things didn't go as planned, and there might have even been a few moments when you felt your ship sailed on without you. I don't know how it works for you, but there are mornings when I get up, and those "ghosts of my past" are right there, fresh in my memories.

But no matter how hard you think about it, mull over it, or stew it in your thoughts, you can't change what happened. It's over and done, and that moment is gone forever. Don't let a past mistake dominate your present. Instead, learn from it and let the ghost die. 

I know many people who have dropped anchor at a moment in their past and never truly moved on from it. They might have had momentum and been on the cusp of success, but then something happened, and they refused to budge from that moment. Maybe it was something they said or didn't say, or some opportunity or relationship they missed out on, but they never grew beyond that. To them, life stopped at that second and can never move on until that wrong is made right.

But we can't go back into the past and change those mistakes. That "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" may genuinely have been once in a lifetime, yet that doesn't mean we won't have another opportunity later that could be just as good—if we are ready for it when it comes.

Stop living life looking in the rearview mirror. You can't stop yourself from making mistakes, but you can stop yourself from making the same mistakes twice.

Learn from it, do what you can to fix it, and then move on. Don't drop anchor there, don't wake up every day with a constant reminder of it playing in your head. Instead, choose to be a better person because of what you learned.

Let the ghost of your past die, and embrace the promise of your future.