Here’s to the past, and what it has taught me; here’s to the people it brought me, and the ones who forgot me. Here’s to the mistakes made, lessons learned, chapters turned, and accomplishments earned.

Here’s to everything that led me to this point.

Here’s to the past.

All we have are a series of moments and events that led to today. Some moments have undoubtedly been cringe-worthy, some have hopefully been awe-inspiring and the rest fall somewhere in-between. Having spent time reflecting on where I am now, it’s been interesting learning how certain moments that I thought were truly horrible at the time have now turned into building blocks or stepping stones that have led me to where I am now.

I certainly have moments that I’m proud of and many I’d like to forget. Yet for every dark or embarrassing moment I can recall, I can almost always trace the things I learned from those moments to times since then that I’ve been so grateful for the experiences and what they taught me. In the moment, I never thought I would appreciate those times, but to see how they’ve helped me since then, somehow makes it all worth it.

I’m pretty sure we’ve all asked the question -- why do bad things happen? To us, to others, in general. We’re all just doing the best we can as we try to find our place and have some kind of fun along the way, but sometimes life just sucks the joy out of everything and we find ourselves in pits we don’t know how to get out of. Lost becomes a title and Found becomes a distant notion. Those moments come to us all in different ways and at different times. Sometimes in those moments we do things we wouldn’t care to admit to. To each their own – we all have moments we aren’t proud of. For some, those things are public and talked-about, for others, those things are internalized and very private. But despite what society would have us believe, there’s more to us than those moments.

There have been good moments, too. So many. Some have to be looked for to be recognized, because they didn’t seem good at the time. Yet everything that ever made us smile is also a part of who we are. And who wouldn’t agree that we need the bad times to fully appreciate the good times?

So again, here’s to the past.

Somewhere between the cringe-worthy and the beautiful, the dull and the eventful – the past yanked, prodded, chased and sometimes even dragged us here. But I’m thankful for it all and I hope you are too. Maybe I’m not as excited about the darker moments I’ve recalled, and would never hope to repeat them, but I wouldn’t be who I am now without them.

So what is the point of all this? What is to be learned from the past? Live without regrets. Everything good in us is influenced by all that has happened to us. Even the bad. We gain confidence in the good, but without the bad, we wouldn’t be able to relate to anyone who has ever struggled, and some lessons have to be experienced to be learned. We need each and every moment of learning to propel us forward in our new endeavors, and those moments just might help us relate to and encourage the people we have met and have yet to meet. Live. Without. Regrets.

Learn from mistakes, but appreciate every moment for the memories it gave you or the things it taught you. Take those things and be the person you always hoped to be. Look at where you were yesterday, and determine to be better tomorrow.

But through it all,

Live without regrets.