Defeating the Cycle: A Word about holding onto a "Choke Holding" Past

Raise your hand if you have gone through something that has hurt you, disappointed you, or just affected you negatively in general...(hands raise worldwide). 

Fact of the matter is, everyone has been through something. Everyone has had times in their lives where they felt they could not go on because of how hurtful a situation was. But the kicker lies in the idea that our backgrounds don't have to be the definitions of who we are today.

I understand that in life, people experience some tough situations, and sometimes these things happen early on, but never should these tough experiences be used as a crutch to keep their lives crippled.

How many times can a person use "my father walked out when I was young" as an explanation for their present behavior? If you're not going to let what happened to you fuel you to help someone else, or to work your hardest not to become like the chaos you saw around you, then you must ask yourself why you're here. Maybe the explanation for why so many people are confused about their life purpose is because they're misusing their mishaps.

Pardon my French, but you have the choice to be screwed up or not. There have been some amazingly successful people who come from all kinds of terrible backgrounds.

I don't mean to be so crass, but we have to stop letting our past creep back  into our present and affect our future. No more excuses. 

In a nutshell: Don't get sucked into what's around you. Just because you're used to a certain way doesn't mean you can't change it up. Just because you're used to brokenness doesn't mean that's all you have to be attracted to. Learn your surroundings. Pay close attention to the dysfunction around you so that you don't fall for the same thing. Know that each unhealthy setting you're in is only momentary. It's not your duty to adapt to it, it's your duty to become a beacon in it. Don't get comfortable. You're on assignment.