We all have pasts that have shaped our present decisions and reactions, for good or ill. It is impossible to be completely free from the influence, no matter how much we want to be freed.
On the other hand, it seems that we have a tendency to exonerate ourselves from responsibility for our present life by blaming it on our past experiences.
As an adult I have a choice whether to let the past determine my present or not. Granted that our past traumas can cause physiological changes that condition our character, it is not true that we are trapped by the consequences of our part traumas. Healing cannot really begin until I accept responsibility for my life and cease putting the blame for my present difficulties and defects on anyone or anything else.
On the other hand, it seems that we have a tendency to exonerate ourselves from responsibility for our present life by blaming it on our past experiences.
As an adult I have a choice whether to let the past determine my present or not. Granted that our past traumas can cause physiological changes that condition our character, it is not true that we are trapped by the consequences of our part traumas. Healing cannot really begin until I accept responsibility for my life and cease putting the blame for my present difficulties and defects on anyone or anything else.
Blaming feeds resentment. Resentment is a cancer that poisons our relationships and our souls. It prevents genuine forgiveness--which is refusing to treat another according to his past offense, but rather as a beautiful child of God whom I can help flourish by being a channel of Divine charity. If I continue to punish the other because of my past or present pain, I cannot be light for the other.
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