There are moments, events, people and places from our past that we cannot seem to move on from. You try your hardest to catch a break from the constant flashbacks and memories from the past. To you, that moment feels like it happened just yesterday. That person, even though you haven’t seen them in over a year, still lingers in the back of your mind no matter what you do. When you go certain places, you are pushed back to the past, and you remember who you were during that time. Let me tell you right now, that person you keep going back to in your memories is not who you are anymore.

You no longer are in that situation, nor at that place in your life. Think of your life and put it on a timeline. Out of all the years you have to live, that point in time is such a little part of your life. I get that those times were impactful. If they weren’t impactful you would not be thinking of it as long as you have. You’re still thinking of it and keeping going back to the “What-ifs” or “I should’ve done that’s”. Stop that. It happened. Sadly, you cannot go back. You cannot change how you reacted in that moment in time, but you can choose how impactful it is in your future.

Look at who you are now. Are you really the same person you were a year ago? Most likely you are not. Those moments changed your life forever. There was no going back from what happened to you. So all you can do is move forward. And take this as making you a stronger you.

Put your hand on your heart. You feel that? You survived. You are still living. No matter what life throws at you, all the turmoil, all the bad memories and the constant anxiety you cannot seem to get away from, just know, you will survive it.

That is the art of moving on. Knowing that through all the paint, molding, cutting and plastering, you will survive it.