One of the mistakes many of us make is that we keep trying to have a better past. Life does not work that way. Your past is never going to improve, but your future can improve if you turn loose the past.

At the age of 17, Marie Balter was suffering severe depression and panic disorder. She was misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic and sent to Danvers State Mental Hospital where she was confined under that diagnosis for 17 years.

With the help of friends and the strength of her faith, she was finally released.

Her recovery was very painful and gradual, but she was determined to take charge of her life. She got an apartment, got married, earned a degree in psychology from Salem State College and a master's degree from Harvard in administration planning and public policy.

Recently, Marie Balter returned in triumph as the administrator of Danvers State Mental Hospital where she had spent 17 years as a patient.

What a victory for Marie Balter! She made up her mind not to continue to be a victim. She said that she would not have grown at all if she had not learned to forgive.

Marie says ...
"If you don't forgive your parents or your children or yourself, you never get beyond anger. Forgiving is the way of reaching out from a bad past and heading out to a more positive future."