From the book Equilibrium: 31 Ways to Stay Balanced on Life’s Uneven Surfaces.

How can I become better at living what I claim to believe? How can I stay true—no matter the temperature or time or hurts or fears or thrills—to promises I believe and pledges I’ve made? How can I live so that when my life on earth ends, I’ll be like a bride walking joyfully for a life that never ends?

One of the best ways to love and to show love is to not be controlled by past hurts.

Too often too many of us allow too many past hurts rule our present and future decisions. We stay connected to, and often controlled by, past hurts.

Waving goodbye to the past allows us to truly be in the present. Not avoiding or denying. Not hiding behind the mask of hurry. Not overworking to escape inner pain. It empowers us to face now.

Waving goodbye to the past allows us to say hello to the future. Not dreading or dodging. Not putting on a seatbelt in the present because of fearing impending impact. Not masking ourselves to pretend all is well when it isn’t. It allows us to face whatever tomorrow might bring.

It helps to know what influences our decisions, though that’s not always simple to detect. Writing and talking about our hurts can help us. Finding appropriate ways to wave goodbye to those hurts can help us. Not bringing immediate solutions. Not removing memories from our minds. But moving on, moving forward, moving toward a better balance. Aware of hurts though not controlled by them allows us chances to face reality in healthy ways.