Imagine that you were introduced to a life that you found fascinating for a while, It is not a life you have chosen or desire to live, you just found yourself in it.
The lifestyle is evil, but pleasurable .You know this, and you desire to get out of it ,you know it does not guarantee a good future for you. Don’t make excuses, find your way out of it, Plot your exit. Once you are out, don’t keep ties with people or friends from that lifestyle If you do, you wouldn’t have really left.

Imagine a lady who began to move with friends who introduced her to prostitution while she was in it, she made some money, met some rich people, and enjoyed herself. She was in her twenties, and she felt her whole life was before her. She managed to escape that life but still kept in contact with her old friend and some old clients. Now she is looking to find herself a man and get married, she meets a guy and they start talking. When the discussions started getting serious, she called three of her old friends to share the news those ones were unmarried and still in that old life she left behind.
The first friend asked her, “Have you told him everything you used to do? Does he know you used to sleep with men for money?” She said yes, the friend then asked her, “Is he okay with it? Does he have issues with it?” She said “No,” The friend said, “he is pretending, men don’t forgive the indiscretions of ladies. He may say he does not mind now that you are his girlfriend, but once you become his wife, he will lord it over you. He will cheat on you and accuse you of cheating on him all the time due to your past.”
The second and third friends also echoed the same sentiments. She didn’t want to talk to anyone who is neutral on the issue because she didn’t want to disclose the sordid details of her past life to them, she says, “These friends are the ones who know me and they all seemed to think the relationship will not work.” Do they really know her? Has she not left their world behind? Has she not moved on in the new direction she wanted her life to move on to? Then she called on the old client, an older married man whom she used to sleep with she felt he would give her a level-headed counsel since he was good to her while they were dating.
The old client said, “Come and see me.” She went to see him, and the man said, “You are dating this man you said you love and want to get married to, but you still came to see me under the guise of looking for advice. You are not ready to get married. When you are ready, you will move on without looking back.” She hesitated, “Sir, I just want to know if this marriage thing will work out or if I should just keep myself where I am and not put myself out there. What if his family members investigate? What if his friends investigate? What if they find out what I used to do and who I used to be? What if he walks out on me and my story becomes public? I am just scared of what the future holds.” The man smiled and ordered them food and drinks, they began to talk about the good old days and all the adventures she and her friends had for fun in those days. They talked until midnight she told herself it was a farewell date to the past.
Later, she retired with the man to his room. They didn’t have sex not because she didn’t want to, but because they tried everything, but the man couldn’t get it up.
The next morning, she returned home, promising herself she was truly done with the past but the past was not done with her.
The next day, her intended asked her where she was the day before she lied that she went to see her mother. Her intended told her he went home to check on her, and her mother said she was at work. She began to stammer, for the first time, her intended felt she had cheated on him. She broke down and explained everything that had happened, her intended was shocked “I accepted you as you were, but you have not accepted yourself as you are. You went back to your vomit to find out if the food you will eat tomorrow is going to be good for you?” She said she was looking for closure He said, “You should have found closure before meeting me. I shouldn’t be here asking you questions about what you did yesterday if indeed you had left that life behind. Leaving it behind means, when I came into your life, it is no longer there, but now it is still there.” She said, “These guys are the ones who truly know me. I cannot pretend I don’t have a past, and leaving them behind is taking a heavy toll on me psychologically. They are my support system, the guys I don’t have to pretend with because they truly know me. Surely you understand that.” He didn’t say a word. He just looked at her in a funny way and smiled She said “Give me a week to sort myself out. I promise you, I would have really sorted it out by then.” That was the last time she heard from him. He left her, not because of her past deed but because of her admission that her past ties were very important to her. He remembered asking her why she still kept in contact with her friends and the “sugar daddy” whom she kept saying helped her a lot before he met her, she told him at the time that the man had invested so much in her and helped her with her career and placement at work. He realised she would never be free of her past; she was just going to drag him into her world willy-nilly. He wanted nothing to do with the man who used to sleep with his wife-to-be, even if he had suddenly become a Pope she didn’t understand this. Her support system was all wrong, and yet she clung to it. He had to conclude sadly that they would never have a happy marriage due to that so he walked away.
The lady will later wonder what she did that was so bad as compared with her past, which he readily accepted and didn’t bat an eyelid about. The past was supposed to be long dead and buried, but here she was exhuming ghosts from her past for him to deal with. That was the grave error she made, and she didn’t even see it. The dead must stay dead or the living will never truly live as they ought to. You must learn to shut the door without sentiment to all ties that bind you to a life you no longer desire to live. The same applies to young men who found themselves tied to gangs, cultism, armed robbery gangs, and bad friends in general.
Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are If they live a lifestyle that you choose to walk away from, they have nothing to offer you in your new life.

Michael Corleone walked away from his mafia family. He was going to marry Kate and live the American dream, but he somehow found himself in the middle of the assassination plot against his father, and somehow he ended up being the Don of the Mafia life he was supposed to live behind. The past has a very long arm, but the wise can choose to leave the past behind so as to move on into the new life they desire to live.

Finally, some assume that since they moved on and made something of themselves, they need to visit the past and show off their new blessed lifestyle to their old friends and relatives who are still in that world they left behind. Foolishness likes vain expressions. There is nothing as foolish as visiting a friend with whom you used to do drugs just to catch up. You will most likely end up doing drugs again because you refused to close that door. The past is strong, and sometimes it is stronger than your present. Don’t ever underestimate it.

-GSW-