Regret and rue and remorse are all from the past, and this is why you don't want them to stick around. They hold you to the past, and in the past, beloveds, in terms of the relative world, you were less than you are now. It's that simple. And so I adjure you to leap out of the past and leave it behind forevermore.
The past simply isn't any good to you. Yes, the beauty you are now came from the past. Yes, it contributed, but it is like last year's soil all dried out and drained of nourishment. Plant yourself in fresh soil now so that you grow taller and taller. No longer stoop down to the past. Better to put your focus onto the present which is alive now. In a minute, it too will be of the past.
You do not collect the old fingernails you have clipped off. You let them go. What would you save them for? And yet you hoard the past, as if new soon-to-be-past weren't growing all the time. For the span of its life, the present is at your feet. The past you have to call up and chew your cud on. Today is fresh-born. Do not let the past influence you so much, not just because I say so, but because the past kept close to you holds you back. It becomes a weight and wears you out. It is for you to move forward into the present, this second of imagined time that presents itself in this moment, and that's all.
The present is remarkable for its brevity. It is instant. This present moment may be very powerful, and yet the minute this present moment is past — Bingo! It becomes memory. The past loses its potency very fast. Once spent, from then on, it is over. A moment ago can only be raked-up leaves now. Leaves fade fast. The past becomes remote. It is dead brush. To have the past, you have to dredge it up. Let the past lie where it lies. Step over it.
It may have rained a moment ago, and now it is dry. Why get wet again in thought when you perhaps did not like the rain much the first time and you ran to get out of it? Why now is the past so precious to you, this past moment that is already stale? Ah, memories are selective, and they are full of the people and special moments that once were and now no longer are. And so you hold on to the snows of yesteryear.
The present is always with you, and there is always more coming up.
The message for you is to let go and to let go without batting an eye. It is not a sacrifice to let go of the past. When you gave up training wheels on your bike, you weren't sacrificing. You simply were ready to ride your bike without training wheels. It is like you earned a promotion. Yes, you have graduated to this present moment. Look it straight in the eye and relish it while it is here, now, not later. Now is the by-line you sing, and now is the life you proclaim.
The present is love because love is all that there is. Love is in the present moment. The past may bring tears to your eyes, but the only way the past truly serves you is to bring you into this moment right now, this moment as We speak and as We let go of the past of even a moment ago.