make peace with my past and embrace my future

I discovered through a chance meeting that I have come quite a long way toward forgiving someone. That made me glad!

I’ve decided to change this goal from “let go of the past” to “make peace with my past and embrace my future.” I think that sounds more reasonable.

I don’t think it is possible to let go of the past. It has happened. It has helped shape who I am. I need to make peace with, or accept, what was, and then decide what I want to become in the future, and which direction I want to head. Of course, my plans might not happen. As the Bible says, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”

How do I attempt this one? I have been going to counseling. I have been praying. I have been journaling. I have been making decisions for a new start in my life, but exactly how do I know when I can check this off my list? Won’t there always be a part of me that has been changed by the past? I can’t erase it. I don’t want to just have a goal on my list that I can’t eventually check off my list. I have to think about how to make this more concrete.

I made a step in letting go of the past by saying goodbye to a relationship that was over, anyway. I met with the person and said a clear cut goodbye, rather than just letting the relationship hang out there, indefinitely, leaving me in limbo. It was rewarding, because I was able to say goodbye with love and goodwill between us, unlike some other relationships in which I have said goodbye.

http://www.christianity.com/faith/1404563.aspx