Everyone's telling me, "It's time to start a new chapter in your life."

Why can't they understand I don't want to start a new chapter? I want to go back and edit one incident, erase one mistake, and start from there again.

That's the wonder of writing, isn't it? You can go back and fix the things you don't like.. you can force things to turn out the way you want them to.


Comments?

Sure on paper you can change it anyway you want to and make it end the way you want to. But.........in reality what has happened has happened you can not change what was done but you can make sure you don't repeat those same things in the future... So when you look back to the past it is not with regrets.......

Thanks

We may be the authors of our lives but we etch the words permanently on a tablet of stone.

Well, it would be nice if we could go back and change the things we don't like in life, but then what would be the point of being here? I guess the best thing we can do is make sure we do better now, forgive the past, it can't be undone. Tomorrow is not promised. Just take things a step at a time. Sometimes we have to step back and look at the big picture.

I think TxsGal3333 summed it up best. We all make mistakes in life, it's part of living. Repeating the same mistakes though is based on whether we learned from past mistakes.

Of course there are times when something will happen that there is no background information to base it on. In other words it's a new mistake.

The one thing that would be nice is if we had partners in life that would forgive and let go of the mistakes made. Some do and some do not. Hopefully, for those out there, the partners that are a part of their lives can forgive the mistakes and move on in the relationship.

Of course I might be just rambling on and not know what I am talking about. (LOL)

John

and most times, looking back, you can see what you got from it to learn so you can move forward. Alot don't take the time, don't have it either. The way you look at your life can make a big difference also by just changing your thinking about it. One person might say, wow I screwed up or they could say look at all the lessons/adventures I've had. Naturally you progress alot faster if you take the second view.
What others think/say about our progress is actually none of their business but if they're close to us, can affect us. Try not to let them get to ya.

A snip from my profile:

April 3, 2008: One of the nice things about writing a book....is that this may be the only time in your life when things turn out exactly as you wanted them to....wish-fulfillment as literature. Art imitates the life you wish you could have....

"The Moving Finger, having writ, moves on, and returns to write no more."

That's from 'The Rubaiyat' by Omar Khayyam ... and it's still true.

We can't go back and edit the past. What we CAN do is learn from it and not repeat the same mistake moving forward. The past is one helluva good learning tool IF we know how to read what's written in its pages ... seemsayin' ... ?

They don't understand because you haven't made them. Sometimes you can't just tell people, you have to show them.

Some stories resolve themselves. Don't trust the designated order. I say, edit as you please in life, but be aware that your attempts to edit are still being recorded in the stories of those around you.

Best of luck.

EXCELLENT responses from everyone. I just want to add one more, along the same lines.
Imagine you COULD go back and rewrite a chapter of your life. Trouble is, you run into the same paradox you find in ALL Time Travel scenarios: without the negative experience, you don't have the ADDITIONAL KNOWLEDGE required to avoid making the same mistake again. You'd end up in an endless, repeating loop of self-induced pain.
So you have to accept the COST of your learning. That's life. In my experience, it's tremendously enriching: you lose NOW, but for the rest of your life, your appreciation and enjoyment of finding again elements of what you HAVE lost, will make the rest of your life FAR more deeply wonderful.

Sometimes it's best to put the editing pen down and just go ahead and start the next chapter. Going back over something that is already written trying to improve it sometimes just makes it worse.

I know how you feel. I wish I can go back and change the things that have happened, not make the decisions I've made. But unfortunately that is not possible, so I am coming to terms with my mistakes and looking for the future to be a good one.

The chapter is gonna happen anyway...change is he one thing that we can count on. No sense beating yourself down, your allowed to screw up..we all do, and that's how we learn, hopefully.
Use to past experience to make the future better...

Best of luck moving on

Isn't it odd how people want us to move on...to move on to that next chapter in life? And yet, when we do try to, those same people will also remind you of your past. Funny thing life. People want to help. And yet in the same breath, they can hurt you as well. So, I came to a conclusion one day about this very fact. I know of my past mistakes. I made them...I lived them...I had to endure them. And I will also remember them. I don't need anyone else telling me about them. I kindly tell people that if there goal is to be positive, then don't dwell on things that happened. Don't label me or judge me. Just be that friend or family memeber who truly cares and loves me, cause that is all I want in my life. I will write a new chapter. And watch out. It will be a good one.