shed the past like an old skin.
Do you regard time as a sort of ruler, and you’re constantly snipping off the bits that have expired and wondering how much more you have left? Or do you see your past as a great crusty core of weightiness and density that cannot be changed? Or do you see the past like the skin of a snake, something that held you and allowed you to grow into who you are? As you grew, you constantly had to let it go, to make room for your expanded consciousness. If we look at the past like a wonderful container that was very useful, but that has done its duty for us, we might not be so attached to it. We would appreciate, value, and set it aside, and continue stretching out into our new, present skin. The power of living as a human being is that we are always free to re-experience and re-imagine even our past in a new ways, with a new, forgiving perspective, or with gratitude for the lessons learned or the people encountered. A snake does not regret his old skin. We do not need to regret any aspect of our past. In the stillness of the struggle to release old restrictive past experiences, whisper these words: “I did the best I could at the time.” Because you always did.