I was glancing through a book today and saw the beginning of a paragraph that captivated me the moment I saw it.  It stated that the quickest way to success was to get out of the past.  Although there is something to be said about remembering where you came from, I am in agreement that you cannot hold on to the past in order for you to move forward in your present life.  Our past provides us with a vivid timeline about where we have walked and paints the picture about the steps along with the missteps that we have taken over time.  There can be things in our past that are hurtful to remember, however, the one thing about those memories is that you are no longer there anymore.  Among my favorite are the prior memories that evoke laughter, harmony or a smile that brings you back to a time when your heart felt full and at peace with everything around you.  If you have ill feelings about things that happened in the past, then do yourself and your conscience a favor by finally putting those to rest and letting them live where they belong.  Your present should not be filled with regret or things that you wish you should have done differently.  Instead, think about the learning that occurred as a result of your path and concentrate on the rest of your journey that has taken you to the place that you are today.  If you do not like where you happen to be at today, then this is your opportunity to change course to a new destination.  I firmly believe that none of us have walked through anything by complete accident.  Life has an interesting formula for teaching us lessons about who we are and at times who we should not be. When you see an attribute in another person that you realize is completely the opposite of who you want to be, then it serves as an example of who not to emulate.  Rather than looking at periods of your past as a great source of where things did not go right, reflect on the those things that did.  Be grateful that you learned some lessons that you have vowed to not repeat in the future, especially those that brought little momentum for your life.  Instead, live for the future that you have the power to control today.  None of us can ever forget where we came from, however, we can certainly determine where we want to be at when we get to the end our journey.