TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES and leave your past at the door.

Our past - It defines us, it guides us, it will even destroy us if we’re not careful. 

I’ve spent years beating my past, chipping away at the edges and building a new life with the bricks I create.

But sometimes it still leads me around like a monkey in a bad circus. Takes a hold of the leash and drags me through an old hell only to flatten all the new foundations I’ve built.

Our past can be venomous, a lethal mix of warped imagination based off the hurt others have caused you. It stains the hopes and dreams you’ve somehow found in a world of billions and tears you away from what’s important.

You can waste countless hours worrying about things that aren’t even there. You’ll create problems out of thin air because you’re expecting them to repeat themselves. You'll say things to loved ones who never deserved to hear them from your lips and all because you’re living with the memories of past hurts.

There’s no shame in not having fully controlled it yet, the shame comes from the devastation you’ll bring into your new life, with beautiful people who played no part in the old one. The shame comes from you knowing you didn’t need to ruin that moment, but you went ahead and did it anyway.

"A man /woman who does not take their shoes off when entering your heart, is ready to leave at any moment. That person did not come to stay. They came to visit."

By letting my past dictate parts of my conscience, I’ve almost become that visitor. I’d left my shoes on. I was subconsciously preparing to move on because I was expecting the past to repeat itself.

Why? Because that’s what I know. My past has a sick loop attached to it. A fucked up Groundhog Day with a violent shield I put up the second I feel threatened. Shield up, sword drawn ready to fight. I won't be beaten. But to never lose in defensive means you actually never win either. Sure, you scare away the demons, but only to be left standing there alone on the battlefield as the enemy retreats back to the castle for festivities. An empty battlefield is a very lonely place.

Don’t waste time on your past unless you’ve harnessed it for positivity. Don’t waste time on people who mean fuck all and can never take what's yours anyway. Don’t exert immense energy on people who don’t even know you exist.

Cut the serpent off at the head. Look forward, see what’s real and valuable then focus on it. If you’re in a relationship that blows your mind, it’s because you deserve to be there, you’ve earned it. Don’t let the past steal a single minute of it.

Take off your shoes, settle in and enjoy the moment you’re in, not the ones you think are coming.

It’s my goal from this day onwards to never look back and leave my past at the door.