Is it alright to drop all your past failures and start over?

I was thinking of leaving my past behind. All the dumb stuff I did, the crappy people in my life, negative emotions, everything bad that’s in my life, I want to leave it all behind and move onto a new life.

I know my past will always be a part of me. My past makes me who I am, but holding onto negativity hasn’t helped me. The only things worth keeping with me are the painful lessons of my failures, and drop anything that isn’t beneficial to my wellbeing. Like the “friends” that stabbed me in my back. I don’t want to hate them anymore, but I also won’t acknowledge them. It’s forgiven, not forgotten.

Luckylu · 61-69, F

I did walk away but I soon discovered it will follow you if you do not change your inner landscape. I believe there is a reason for everything that happens. The negative things are there to show you something you need to learn about yourself. In my case, I wasn’t accepting all of me. I buried parts of myself so deep I had almost forgotten they existed. Once I embraced all of who I am is when my life started changing and becoming more of what I wanted and needed. So, it can be done just make sure you are doing your own inner work as you do.

Dethmoore · 31-35, M

@Luckylu I agree. I think it’s about acknowledging our or others’ mistakes so that we can learn not to have a repeat, and also accept that something messed up. I feel forgiveness is the key to growth, instead of holding onto the past. I harbored so many grudges in my life to the point that I became bitter, and in the end the person that I hurt the most is myself.

I realized that the best thing to do is to acknowledge all the bad things in my life, accept them for what they are, forgive myself or people that wronged me, and learn to do better. My life is so negative and dark, and so I thought maybe allowing light to come in would brighten my world.

WhateverWorks · 36-40

I think at a certain point it’s necessary. You can do all this inner work on yourself, which is really important, but as long as the past is still looming, it’s hard to fully come into the lessons you’ve learned and living a life that more, so represents who you want to be.