IT'S VERY SIMPLE: THE PAST DOESN'T HOLD YOU — YOU HOLD THE PAST.

WHAT HAPPENED IS A FACT. WHAT IT MEANS IS A STORY.

THE PAST DOESN'T DISAPPEAR WHEN FORGIVEN — IT CEASES TO BE A CONDEMNATION AND BECOMES EXPERIENCE.

YOU ARE NOT WHO YOU WERE THEN, EVEN IF YOUR BODY REMEMBERS THE SAME PLACE.

THE PAST CAN FREE YOU AS STRONGLY AS IT CAN HOLD YOU — THE QUESTION IS WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IN IT.

IT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED THAT DEFINES YOU, BUT WHAT YOU DECIDED IT MEANS.

Do you remember the past — or are you still living in it, calling it the present?

What story about yourself are you still telling based on what happened many years ago?

What from your past have you never re-examined after growing up?

Who are you still trying to prove something to because of what happened then?

What would change if the past became proof that you survived, rather than proof that something is wrong with you?

Are you carrying the past — or have you long since put it where it belongs?

What from the past still affects my decisions, even though I consider it long over?

What have I gone through but haven't yet turned into experience?

What in my past deserves gratitude?

Don't use the past as an excuse not to change.

Don't judge your past self by knowledge you didn't have then.

Thank the past for making you capable of being here today.

Separate the fact from the meaning you gave it.