There is an expression: "Everything is over." You may say this with sadness. Or perhaps, you say with relief: "Now I wash my hands of that."

Here's the thing: Every experience you have embeds itself in you. So, in one sense, nothing is ever over. You may forget. You certainly move on from the past, yet the experience has made its mark.

Of course, the mark of every experience is how you see it. If you see an experience differently from the way you used to, the mark it leaves is configured differently. So, all the past is as you see it. All you experience in life is your impression of it. You see what you see. There is more than one way to see the same thing. Whether you see a rogue or an angel, it is your perception. Your perception leaves its trademark.

You, the interpreter, interpret. Whatever your interpretation of an incident or all of life may be, this is how you see it, and that is the truth for you. In years to come, you may see differently. You may naturally come to see a mother or father, for example, in a different light. Life has given you greater understanding, and now you have a second impression. It is good to have gained understanding, yet this, is not something you can command. You cannot wrest new understanding from yourself.

You would love the idea of letting go of all that you may have collected. You would love to be done with it. You would love it to be over. You would love it to be gone.

You may well have consciously put your past behind you. I invite you to let it go. Let bygones be bygones as best as you can at any given moment.

At the same time, with that being said, so much of your present experiences are reflections from the past. We could say that you may be following old signals. Against your present will, you may still be following old signals. Old signals may not be so easy to rub off.

Even so, people who were not treated as lovingly as We wish they had been, there are many who have risen above their earlier perceptions.

From ashes, consummate kindness can grow. From impatience, patience can reveal itself. From anger, love can flourish. Even a rose has thorns and, yet, a rose is still beautiful.

So despite the marks of the past that remain, roses grow, and peace in your heart can also grow. All that you desire can grow. Growing does not require constant effort. Effort doesn't work that well in subtle matters of the heart.

What you want to achieve usually comes from desire. Desire peace in your heart. I am here to tell you that erasing negative effects from the past is possible. You can, and you have, and you will.

There may be smudges left after the erasure of the past. The effects of past experience and earlier interpretations do lighten. Despite smudges, ugly swans of the past can become beautiful.

All can rise above the ashes. You do this every day. You may chew gum all day, and there comes a time when you toss it away. There may be taste left in your mouth, yet the taste fades.

Life is like the water that washes you. Water flows, and it takes away impediments. Water can wear away boulders. You can't see boulders eroding before your very eyes, yet you can know very well, sight unseen, that boulders are eroding.

Anything and everything is possible in Heaven and on Earth. This means that there is nothing impossible. There is nothing impossible for you.

Desire, and what you desire can come forth. What you desire does not HAVE to come forth. If your desire HAS to come forth, you are holding on to it. You can't let go by holding on. It is not that life owes you anything. It is that you can let your demands go as with a light stroke of a paint brush, ever so gently.

Life on Earth is another name for the Art of Letting Go.