No matter how much you may love your past, you have to step out of it.
No matter what, you have to step out of the past. You just can't keep on lingering there, beloveds. Holding on to the past is putting constraints on yourself. Holding on to the past, whether happy or unhappy, makes you sad. Now, there is nothing wrong with being sad, yet holding on to the past is an indulgence. It doesn't get you anywhere. It immobilizes you.
Life on Earth is change, and at every moment life is changing, and you are changing. Once you were a toddler, and now you carry a toddler. There is not a moment of life that stays the time. Take a photo this minute, and in the next minute the sun has moved.
The state of your life in the world is always changing, and you are always growing. Come to terms with the fact that relative life does not stay the same. There is not one element of life pasted on that can stay. Let the past be a beautiful bird that has flown away. Whether you let it fly away or not, if you like it or not, the fact is that the bird of the past has flown away.
You cannot change the past. You cannot keep it. The past, despite all you know, is irrelevant to you. You were in Tennessee, and even if you still live in Tennessee, you and Tennessee are not the same as you once were. You are not the same as you were yesterday. You who are eternal are in a speeding car on Earth. Vroom! You are off! What is the past now but a composite of thoughts you have? Even your thoughts about the past change. You may try to keep your thoughts the same, but not even your thoughts about the past will stay in place.
Clinging to the past is futile. The past is over. You have no choice but to let go of it. The past has gone on its journey, and you must go on yours.
If you were the decider of how life on Earth would be, you too would opt for the impermanence of the past. You would know that past has to be let go of. There would be no craning your neck back.
The past is a teacup you once used to drink from. You don't really know where that teacup is any longer.
The past is a dress you used to wear. It may have been a beautiful dress, yet you can't wear it now. Even if it fits you, it is not the same, and you are not the same.
The past does not belong to you. Even if you could keep it, it is not yours to keep. The past is not beholden to you, nor are you beholden to the past.
If you must hold on to something, hold on to Me, for I AM as I always was and will be. I am with you now. I am the theme that runs through your life. You can keep Me with you. In fact, I insist on being with you.
You simply cannot rely on the past. It is out of your grasp. And I am right within it. Right now I AM.