"When the past calls, let it go to voicemail. It has nothing new to say."
We tend to find ourselves constantly opening the door to the past when it comes knocking at our door step. The past is the past for a reason.
It's OK to look back and visit the memories, but it is not a place to dwell, especially when those memories haunt you, hurt you, and alter who you are becoming.
I found myself often revisiting the past and not letting go. This affected my present and soon to be future choices and decisions. I found myself always bringing up things that have happened not only when thinking to myself but also when talking to others. I knew it wasn't right or fair but continued to do it anyway.
Leave the past in the past. It may be hard, and you may not want to, but you need to. You need to if you ever want to be able to move forward and get on with your life. You need to if you ever want to feel better and make new, fresh, unweighted, no baggage relationships and future memories.
You don't have to forget. You will always be able to cherish the memories you love and learn from the ones you don't. People change and feelings change, but what you had in the past will always be just that, the past.
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You have to accept these changes. It'll help you grow. Growing means sometimes having to run down hallways, change corners, and make decisions that help us rediscover who we really are.
Everything really does happen for a reason. We sometimes think answering a call from the past can be a good thing, but in all reality, it doesn't lead to anything good.
Stop saying hi. Stop the small talk. Stop replaying it thinking things will change. Stop trying to relive it.
Decline it. Don't say goodbye; just let it go to voicemail. You don't need to hear it.