It’s hard to know what you like if you’ve never experienced it before. You go through life to have experiences and figure out what you like and don’t like, and a prime function of that is past experiences. It’s difficult to convey why you like something, or don’t like, without referencing the past experience that taught you what you like/don’t like.

It’s difficult to try and go through life without looking back at your past. I’ve thought many times, “Why don’t I like drinking again?” And my mind flashes back to that last horrible time I had drinking. The stomach pains, the incoordination, the hangover, the dehydration, it truly was not a great time. And even moments after that when I tried to give alcohol another chance – the stomach pains and other bodily reactions were not enjoyable.

I learned what I wanted from an employer because of everything I didn’t like at my previous employer. It’s hard to not factor in that past experience for my future endeavors and desires.

I am who I am today because of my past. Because I was raped, abused, traumatized. And I’m not going to pretend it didn’t happen or belittle my experiences. I am a completely different person than who I was before because of my past experiences.

We truly do not give our past enough credit for shaping us to be the lively adults we are today. My past gave me the motivation to survive, thrive, and become a new person.