Gosh, this is something I struggle with often. I had a very wise friend that crossed my path briefly in college. I shared a lot of my family baggage with her and she shared with me the idea (which most of you already know) that our past, good - bad - right - wrong or otherwise, helps shape us into the person we are today. It was a HUGE revelation for me at the time, and allowed me to look upon many moments I had viewed very negatively and found the positives of my person at that point in time. I still strongly believe it has made me the driven, successful, and independent person I am. Only recently I have realized that while those are wonderful strengths they have also caused me to miss out on some other things in life. Now I toy with determining how to accept some of the other baggage I've created in my recent past and where to carry myself forward.

Obviously you are all very bright people, and none of this is earth shattering to you... but it's nice knowing none of us are alone as we each take a personal quest to make peace with the past, and treasure today and tomorrow for what they are.