If you are over 30 years old, an overwhelming majority of your body’s cellular mass has been replaced at least once, and in most tissues, many times over. Said another way, a majority of what you are now is not the same as what you were and won’t be the same as what you will become.

When your body replaces cells and tissues, it’s not like your body hits the reset button and gives you fresh new untarnished material back. It carries forward accumulated damage, adaptation, and errors. It remembers the damage and doesn’t let you forget it.

Allow enough time to pass and the vast majority of what you were is not what you are now, and the vast majority of what a person was when they hurt you is not what they are now. And, that doesn’t mean the body is any less scarred; which doesn’t mean we can forgive and love any less.

Last modified on 2026-03-05