I know that I’m preaching back to myself because I could write an entire manifesto on how to not let go. So believe me when I say, I’m culprit número uno. But I don’t want to forget how much more life left there is in me.

So, I’m writing myself, as well as anyone else, a reminder.

You ruin your future when you refuse to see the possibilities currently in front of you. When you become so transfixed with what went wrong, with how you used to be, that you are suddenly incapable of seeing anything else. You dig your own grave without even realizing. You unknowingly sabotage yourself.

It’s a toxic cycle that continues over and over, and over again.

We all have moments when we romanticize the past. There’s a beauty in our nostalgia. We like to just remember the good. We choose the best snapshots. It’s easier that way, to just gloss over the bleak parts.

You ruin your future when you make the decision that the best is behind you. Why? Why decide that? That’s a pretty big assumption to make. Life is an unpredictable beast. You might be shocked with how she surprises you.

You ruin your future when you stop giving yourself the chance to be open.

You have no idea what’s around the corner. It might be a disaster or a blessing. But there’s only one way you’re going to find out: by finding out.

Sometimes, it feels safer to assume what we’ve known is all that will ever be. We are creatures of habit. For as much as we claim spontaneity, very few of us really live by that mentality. We project what we’ve come to expect onto future endeavors.

And so often, we’re scared. We’re just scared.

You ruin your future when you deny yourself a life full of love. New love, current love. Love in so many different forms. You ruin your future when you stop trying because you’ve already decided the outcome.

It’s hard to remember how much we all have in store especially when things in the present don’t seem as wonderful as we had hoped. It’s hard to remember things are temporary and accepting that kind of impermanence is a step we should all take.

I hope you, and me, remember that the future can be just as great as our favorite parts of the past. The future has unlimited potential and if we close ourself off to it, we will never have the chance to know how wonderful it can be. Let’s not ruin our futures without even giving them a decent shot.