An Open Letter To My Past | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

An Open Letter To My Past

The reality of it is that you are never coming back, and I can't spend my life hoping that you will or hoping that you won't.

74
An Open Letter To My Past
Zachary Johnson

First of all, hello. I say this because I have yet to accept that you have come and gone. You've shown me love and grief, anger and happiness, shock and confusion, pain and regret, and everything in between. You are the many mistakes that I have made and the sadness I've endured, and although you've given me so much more, so many wonderful things, it's time to say goodbye.

My first feeling of grief came from you, when you took away my first pet. I had a cat named Buster, whom I had named after the rabbit from Arthur. He died at two years old and I was too young to understand. Next was a bunny, then mouse, then fish, a gerbil, two rats, two more cats, and soon your top follower will take away my beloved dog.

You gave me the feeling of heartbreak and sorrow to forever hold in the pit of my stomach years ago, when I was probably too young to be feeling it. But you gave it to me anyway - I must have been special. You showed me what anger and grudge felt like to hold in the back of my heart for years, and as a genuine person, I will never be able to forgive you for that.

Heartbreak seems to play a large role in my life, in you. I've loved and I've lost people who were as close to me as the present. I've met people I believed I was going to marry, and you took them away from me. You taught me the feeling of resentment, but now I feel it towards you.

Something I have come to learn is that I should never trust time, because when I wrote "something," I wrote it in the past. When I say "wrote," not only did I write it in the past, but it literally is a word used for past-tense contexts. Every second that goes by will be the past right after it is gone, and that's scary. I tend to think about things that I am excited for in the future, and then the thought that it will one day become you overwhelms my mind, immediately diminishing any sense of excitement.

I have met people who were so unhealthy for me, so bad for me, but you are by far the worst thing.

You are my worst enemy. This is because I tend to dwell on you. Even on the good parts of you. I often wish that the good parts of you could come back, making it unfeasible for me to look ahead. I am constantly regretting things that happened not only five minutes ago, but five years ago as well. You take over my mind day after day, night after night, minute after minute, second after second. So from now on, I will look ahead.

The reality of it is that you are never coming back, and I can't spend my life hoping that you will or hoping that you won't.

They tell me not to burn bridges because I might need them in the future, but that brings me right back to my last statement. So here I am, burning every single bridge you have ever made me walk across.

I want to look forward. I want to be excited again. I want to feel the future. So from now on, you can feel me blowing a kiss goodbye in the backward winds.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

28 Daily Thoughts of College Students

"I want to thank Google, Wikipedia, and whoever else invented copy and paste. Thank you."

631
group of people sitting on bench near trees duting daytime

I know every college student has daily thoughts throughout their day. Whether you're walking on campus or attending class, we always have thoughts running a mile a minute through our heads. We may be wondering why we even showed up to class because we'd rather be sleeping, or when the professor announces that we have a test and you have an immediate panic attack.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

The Great Christmas Movie Debate

"A Christmas Story" is the star on top of the tree.

1979
The Great Christmas Movie Debate
Mental Floss

One staple of the Christmas season is sitting around the television watching a Christmas movie with family and friends. But of the seemingly hundreds of movies, which one is the star on the tree? Some share stories of Santa to children ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"), others want to spread the Christmas joy to adults ("It's a Wonderful Life"), and a select few are made to get laughs ("Elf"). All good movies, but merely ornaments on the Christmas tree of the best movies. What tops the tree is a movie that bridges the gap between these three movies, and makes it a great watch for anyone who chooses to watch it. Enter the timeless Christmas classic, "A Christmas Story." Created in 1983, this movie holds the tradition of capturing both young and old eyes for 24 straight hours on its Christmas Day marathon. It gets the most coverage out of all holiday movies, but the sheer amount of times it's on television does not make it the greatest. Why is it,
then? A Christmas Story does not try to tell the tale of a Christmas miracle or use Christmas magic to move the story. What it does do though is tell the real story of Christmas. It is relatable and brings out the unmatched excitement of children on Christmas in everyone who watches. Every one becomes a child again when they watch "A Christmas Story."

Keep Reading...Show less
student thinking about finals in library
StableDiffusion

As this semester wraps up, students can’t help but be stressed about finals. After all, our GPAs depends on these grades! What student isn’t worrying about their finals right now? It’s “goodbye social life, hello library” time from now until the end of finals week.

1. Finals are weeks away, I’m sure I’ll be ready for them when they come.

Keep Reading...Show less
Christmas tree
Librarian Lavender

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is one of my personal favorite holidays because of the Christmas traditions my family upholds generation after generation. After talking to a few of my friends at college, I realized that a lot of them don't really have "Christmas traditions" in their family, and I want to help change that. Here's a list of Christmas traditions that my family does, and anyone can incorporate into their family as well!

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 5 Phases Of Finals

May the odds be ever in your favor.

2575
Does anybody know how to study
Gurl.com

It’s here; that time of year when college students turn into preschoolers again. We cry for our mothers, eat everything in sight, and whine when we don’t get our way. It’s finals, the dreaded time of the semester when we all realize we should have been paying attention in class instead of literally doing anything else but that. Everyone has to take them, and yes, unfortunately, they are inevitable. But just because they are here and inevitable does not mean they’re peaches and cream and full of rainbows. Surviving them is a must, and the following five phases are a reality for all majors from business to art, nursing to history.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments