Everyone has one. It stays hidden. It can be your past. It can be who are you alone. It can be a blessing or a curse. It can house your insecurities or fetishes. It’s the Dark Side.

Everyone has a story. It’s what makes them who they are now. Most people don’t tell their stories for various reasons. I don’t tell my story with much detail to avoid finger-pointing, judgements, or publicly humiliating my bullies. Some would call that as being the bigger person. But for me, it’s a combination of things happen for a reason and people make mistakes.

My Dark Side has been my 5 years in Mumbai and first year of college in Boston. I rarely tell my story to people because of personal reasons. I don’t think it is important for people to know what happened to me when they first meet me. There are inconsistencies which sometimes nudge me to explain which leads to having to tell my story as part of the explanation. But I still don’t find it necessary to tell as it is not something that will ruin my relationships with people if it ever came out.

I know people who have done things in the past or recently which they regret, aren’t proud of, want to keep hidden for personal reasons. This is to avoid judgments mainly. However, inside their mind and head, that’s not the case. We all think about our past and dark side at least one time in the day. We feel that remorse and hate towards ourselves. And that’s what I want to talk about.

I, personally, have dealt with depression and anxiety but now I don’t anymore. Those of you who have me on Snapchat and Instagram are aware of how very recently I ended my therapy sessions which was a personal accomplishment. Thank you for those who stood by me and supported me and gave me the time to recover. However, I do deal with low days and bad days sometimes and luckily for me I have healthy coping mechanisms that work for me.

Initially, I thought having a mental illness and the past that I hold would be a disadvantage and will keep me from achieving my goals in life. Actually it was the opposite, I turned my past into a huge lesson that I learnt. It’s okay to make mistakes and have a past. It’s not okay to let it punish you for the rest of your life. Things happen for a reason. It is key to turn it around and take control of it.

It is important to not let your past be a recurring memory ready to play in your head because it does you no good. There is a reason why that incident is over. So why are you going back to it and playing it over and over again in your head? Look at it right in the eyes and tell it thank you, for the lesson. Now apply it for the rest of your life. You can’t change the past but you can plan your present actions and future plans. If you did something or if something happened, remember it but don’t let it consume you. And you never have to explain your past unless it is key to who you are now.

Everyone has a Dark Side. You are not alone.

Indian Chameleon’s Obiter Dictum for the Day
You never have to explain yourself when there is no explanation needed or earned.