“One day I just woke up and realized that I can’t touch yesterday. So why the heck was I letting it touch me?” Steve Maraboli

“Say girl! Why do you keep looking back? Do you realize every time you look back you are wasting time, and you’re not focused on the goal. Don’t worry about who’s behind you; focus on what’s in front of you. If nobody is in front of you, then your focus should be the finish line,” screamed my track coach during freshman year in high school. Although I hated there seemed to be a need to “bark”, I held on to every profound word because it would somehow apply to life beyond track.

Years later while sitting at a Women’s Conference, the speaker was lifting a message on forgiveness. During the message, she kept reminding us to not let our past impact God’s plan for our lives. She emphasized God had already forgiven us for our mistakes, and it was now time for us to forgive ourselves so we could move on. Although our past had led us to our previous state, we didn’t have to let it determine how far we could go nor should it deter us from reaching our destiny.

It took years to excuse myself for mistakes I had made. Not all mistakes were forgivable in my mind; these choices would cause me to be flawed forever.  Although God had forgiven me, I would silently beat myself down for decisions made in the past.  Then I was reminded by my Father there was absolutely nothing I could ever do to change my past other than to stop living in it.

Once I changed my perspective and used my experiences to grow, things began to look differently. Projects I had ambitions of completing started to fall into place with ordinary effort and maximum belief. My faith started to outweigh my fears; I stopped looking back and starting focusing on what was in front of me. I made a personal decision to do something to get closer to my finish line daily.

If you’re knocking yourself down about yesterday’s mistakes, just remember to make better mistakes tomorrow. I am constantly reminded by an Edwin Cole quote, “You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there.” In this thing called life, you either sink or swim; don’t let your past be an anchor on your future.

Outfit Details

Shorts (Body Shop)

Shirt (Old Navy)

Sweater (Express)

Shoes (Trend Mall)