Our memories help us relive life’s most delightful moments, such as a trip to the Grand Canyon or a child’s high school graduation.

But not every memory is a happy one, and often people become so tied to the past – dwelling on mistakes they made or offenses committed against them – that they fail to enjoy and take advantage of the present.

If we permit our past to hold us hostage from the change we deeply desire, we are stuck. It is important to be able to release your past and to see existence in the present moment. There is no future and there is no past, only the gift of now.

I know from experience. Freeing myself from the past involves overcoming anger that plagued me since my parents divorced when I was a young boy.  My mother and father traveled much different roads. Establishing a palette of good and bad morals, I forged ahead.

I was blessed by the fact that my parents didn’t create a division of love or animosity toward the other through me. That is a poison no child should sip.

If you have been through a difficult relationship, I would encourage you to stay away from alienation tactics and make love the basis of your parenting skill set.  If you are on the sidelines looking in, you too should realize the poison of your actions.