A Past.

Everyone has one. Good. Bad. or Indifferent.

I am not the person I was at 18, at 24, or even 30. That girl is gone.

Some days its even hard for me to close my eyes and remember who she was.

How she felt.

How she processed life.

It’s hard to relate to some of her behaviors and actions and choices.

Its hard to reconcile her with the woman I am today.

Because Im not her.

The hardest part of having a past, is people knowing it. Whether it directly affected them or not.

Some people will choose, in their own weakness, to shame you for the person you once were.

But I hope today, you remember:

The past they are shaming you with; that isn’t your home. That isn’t who you are. That doesn’t define the person you have become.

You don’t have to live or accept someone else’s narrative of your own life.

You don’t have to feel continued shame after forgiveness.

After progress.

After putting in the work to learn and understand your past.

There is beauty in grace.