I'm Unable to Change the Past

"We have the tendency to make assumptions about everything.  The problem with making assumptions is that we believe they're the truth.  We could swear they are real and this swearing is exacerbated by the fact that sometimes they are real.  We make assumptions about what others are doing or thinking - we take it personally - then we blame them.  We only see what we want to see, and hear what we want to hear.  We don't perceive things the way they are.  We have the habit of dreaming with no basis in reality.  We literally dream things up in our imagination."

In other words: No one is thinking about me.

"It is comforting to know that every day we are in contact with people who put such confidence in us that we strive harder to do our best.  When one person can be challenged, another may need to be told how to rise above emotions and imagined shortcomings.  We all need approval and attention, and when someone cares, it makes an important difference."

I often remind myself that the only good message is one that builds up.  I realize all of us need to get a swift kick in the ass some of the time - we're that stubborn in our beliefs and behavior - but I devote most of my time to patting the back instead of kicking the ass.  We are so incredibly hard on ourselves that I don't have the heart to yell at anyone.  

"We might be able to go back and do things differently if we had new knowledge, new understanding.  Otherwise, we would do the same things.  We work with what we have, with what we know.  To anguish over what we did in the past is foolish.  Most of our regrets, of course, are either imagined or history."

I did the best I could with the tools I had at the time.  And I know this to be fact: I am completely unable to change the past.