You are not who you once were
Forgiving your past self and becoming new
"You're under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago."
— Alan Watts
Judging yourself for yesterday's regrets is how you miss the beauty of today.
What a shame to let the past weigh you down. To miss who you are now because you’re fixated on who you used to be.
Like a butterfly who still thinks it’s crawling.
When the sun sets, the moon erases yesterday.
When it rises again, so do you.
Judging who you are now based on who you were then, and the errors you made, makes no sense.
You didn't know then what you know now.
Give Yourself Permission to Become Someone New
The parable of the snake who shed its skin…
What you did is who you were.
What you do now is who you are.
There’s a story of the snake told across many cultures.
The snake would complain to a wise turtle, saying it felt trapped in its old skin.
“No matter where I go, I carry the past with me.”
The turtle thought for a moment and said, “Then why don’t you let it go?”
The snake resisted. Its skin held its mistakes. Its memories. Its shame.
But when it finally shed its skin, no one remembered the old one.
They only saw what the snake had become.
Forgive Your Old Self, and Love the New You
"Today I begin a new life."
— Og Mandino
A basketball player must sit down to study the film of games he's played.
A wise player studies film not to punish himself, but to learn.
He doesn’t judge the past—he prepares for the next game.
If he was wise, he would watch it through an educational lens. He'd study his performance with forgiveness and improvement at the forefront of his mind.
He would realise that he is not the player in the previous game, he is the player who plays the next game.
In this same way, a disloyal person is not one that has betrayed someone in the past, it is one who betrays in the Now.
You are not disloyal because you betrayed someone in the past.
You are disloyal if you betray someone now.
When you judge yourself for the mistakes you've made in the past, you're forgetting who you are today.
You’re overlooking the good you’re capable of becoming.
Treat your old self with compassion.
They did the best they could with what they knew.
They didn’t have the experience you carry now.
…
We don’t judge babies for falling.
Why judge our past selves for not yet knowing how to stand?
Each day, you wake up brand new.
In every moment, you begin again.
When you meet someone for the first time — they have no idea who you once were. They don't know about the mistakes you made.
They only see who you are.
Now.
Who you are today is you only truth.
Sincerely,
eren
Follow me on Substack and LinkedIn for short bursts of motivation and peace, and to follow along on my journey of creating the world’s best in-person mindset workshop.
So true, Eren. Thank you for this perspective.