“We held on to resentments about the past which prohibited us from embracing the present and living our lives to the fullest. Some of us were full of remorse and could not forgive ourselves for making mistakes. That is, we would not accept our humanity.”

– Life with Hope, first edition, page 16

Taking my Fourth Step inventory was a difficult process. I had people who had wronged me that I never wanted to forgive, and others who I wished I had never wronged. I had previously thought that the answer to resentment and remorse was to push them far into the recesses of my mind, and bottle up any negative emotions I experienced as a result of them. I realized that by trying to ignore them, I was actually giving them more power over me. I could not let those feelings continue to dominate my life. I had to forgive people who had wronged me, not for them but for myself. I had to forgive myself for my own wrongdoings. No amount of anger or regret is going to change the past, but I can change my attitude going forward. I can acknowledge that without my past, I wouldn’t be where I am in the present.

Final thought: Today, I will be grateful for who I am right now, instead of regretting who I was in the past.