Erase the past?

When asked, most people would not change anything in their lives - simply because whether an event was positive or negative (in the person's opinion), it would have contributed to how they became WHO they are today.

That is a fact. We are the product of our experiences to-date - good or bad - and when we remove something negative, we risk loosing some small essence of ourselves today.

For example, when a person is emotionally strong - it doesn't mean that he/she had positive experiences in relationships that is causal. It could also be because he/she had negative experiences which caused him/her to strengthen his/her emotional being for survival.

Having said that, would we take a chance, delete some negative experiences and hope that we turn out just as we are today? That is, provided, we are happy with who we have become, present day. This is a tough question - we say we are happy depending upon what are the variables operating at that point we are being asked to answer the question. But generally, most people would have some grievance or other, which we would like to tweek, just so we are less bothered by our shortcomings. Unless we are the type who are perfectly guilt-free and are able to function telling ourselves lies day in day out.

The sooner we come to terms with ourselves, the better our chances of securing a more acceptable outcome. Many are able to make-do - not because they do not dream of a better outcome, but that people are creatures of comfort, preferring status quo to change. There is nothing wrong with that - we choose how we wish to live and if existing is it, then it is it.

For a person who dwells, I am not able to make-do.
Dwelling does damage for people who are unable to control this habit - but when one dwells and figures things out, then it's no harm done. Forget the fact that being a Type A, makes me an impossible woman - had I been a Type B, I could well be 6-feet below ground, possibly because I ended my life, which was punctuated with wrong turns and stubborn decisions - I wouldn't have been able to continue living, because I wouldn't have had the determination or strength to carry on.

Impossible I may be, it is also my survival kit.
Perhaps, at the end of the day, I will close the chapters of my life and wished that I hadn't been so harsh, but knowing me, I would probably find reasons to validate everything that I did - and validate it, I will - because I would have dwelled sufficiently on any route before actually re-assigning my position.

So, whatever our shortcomings and negative memories we have as baggage, accept it. It's hard, because it reminds us that we are alive and feeling beings. So, Type A or not, there is such a thing as emotions - it's just how well under control it is.

We are who we are because of our past.
It doesn't make us a better or worse person than we are, present day.
What matters is, who we want to be tomorrow - and how we plan to get there.
That's what people miss in this story, that we cannot change the past but we are allowed to dwell on it and make changes for the future. Unless there is no tomorrow, then - it's pointless to even have a discussion about it.