You are Not your Past

I've been attending church again. Gasp, I know! I have probably gone to church more in the past two months than I have in the past two years. It's a big commitment/step. I like to draw things from the sermons, even if, in my brain, I can't quite take it to the God level. But, I can take it to my level, where I can look at what the pastor says according to God, and see how I can apply it in my life. This past week, the pastor focused on the past, and how it affects our future but does not mean we are our past. I tuned in as he spoke of how who we once were doesn't determine who we will be.

This morning I asked some of my Twitter friends thoughts they had on moving forward from a tragedy. Here are a few of their thoughts:

-Stop and Breathe
-If you stand still, you stagnate.
-What would I want them to be doing with their life if it had been me who died?
-Slow travels, cautious, difficult, renewing

Some are from friends, and some are from widows. I can tell the differences, but I have seen myself pursue all the above. I have taken the time to stop, breathe, soak it in, yet in the beginning, it was all I could do to keep myself from bolting for fear if I stopped for a moment, it would all fall apart. The thing was, it already had.

Now, as I am living my future, my chapter two, as I prepare for the next steps, I find my path is slowed, that I am evaluating all my moves, the cards that lay ahead. I do think about what Kevin would have done, about what I would have done differently.

What are your thoughts on moving ahead and letting go of your past - not being defined by it, but allowing it to change you for the better without becoming the past?