Escaping One's Past

     We all commit mistakes. There are myriad reasons why they happen. And when they do, all we want is to put our mistakes behind us. Sometimes we even attempt to erase them from memory.

     Yet there will always be reminders of our faults. Each mistake brings with it social consequences. Like ripples in a pond, the people around us are affected as well. Every so often it’s the people in our midst who will not allow us to forget. Especially when our mistakes involve having wronged others, those we have hurt find it difficult to pardon us.

     It’s not an easy thing to admit having done something wrong. We usually have to wrestle with our pride in order to do so. And it’s the resulting guilt that makes it extremely taxing. Sometimes all we want is to forget our transgressions. But merely forgetting them may result in their repetition. In order to move forward, we need to accept our mistakes, to learn from them and struggle to avoid them in the future.

     Time and again, all we desire is to begin anew. But it’s never that simple. When we fall, people will usually think less of us. And recovering from being judged by others is exceedingly difficult. To rise up from each fall takes strength and courage, for it is so much easier to just give up. In order to start over, all we want is to be forgiven. And in truth, it is far more difficult to forgive ourselves than to seek the forgiveness of others.

    We all desire a new beginning in order to move beyond our failures. Hence, we too should find in ourselves the ability to pardon others when they commit mistakes. In this way, we may all be given the opportunity to escape the past.