To continue with my personal growth, I must first let go of the past.

What actually gets put down is rarely the memory. Memory stays. You will still be able to describe the room, the year, the exact thing that was said. The part you set down is the arguing — the case you have been building against them or against yourself, the closing statement you keep polishing for a courtroom that never sits.

That argument takes up far more room than the event ever did. When it finally goes quiet, the past has not disappeared. It has simply stopped demanding your attention every time it comes up.