Originally Posted by
Stratman1 
Well anyway the realizations just kept getting worse, every year. I don't know how to cope with that.
At some point we have to decide if we are going to allow the past to define us or the present.
I have chosen the present. The past might have gotten me were I was but it didn't have to keep me there, I had a choice to move forward.
Remember that forgiveness does not mean that you forget, it does not mean you trust the person again or that you have to allow them to remain in your life. Forgiveness is so you can move on. Even if you don't feel it, you can say it and sometimes it comes on us over time, that is how it was for me and it allowed me to move on.
Doesn't mean it still does not haunt me at times, I have not forgotten, but I can set it down today and go on. I don't have to carry it around all the time. Picking it back up is a choice just the same as setting it back down. I hope I get to the point that I never feel the need to pick up those past feelings again but in the mean time, I keep moving forward with my program and my life.
I only get one life. I don't want live it re-living the past, I can't change it. I can only live for today.