過 - It's My FAULT, I Put TOO MANY Boxes in the Road

Readings & Meanings:

過（−ち） a fault, error

カ to pass, elapse

す（−ぎる） to exceed

す（−ごす） to go to excess

Common Usage:

過去

過ち

過ぎる

Examples:

過去の過ちを二度と繰り返さないよう心に誓う。

過ぎた事は忘れた方がよい。

Translations:

I swear to myself never to repeat my past mistakes.

It's better to forget past events.

Bonus:

Yes, this 過ぎる is the same grammar that we all know in sentences such as 飲み過ぎた. And yes, in this case, you CAN use the kanji when you want to say you did something too much. Japanese people use both kanji and hiragana when they add すぎる to the -masu stem of a verb. For more information on using this grammar, please see JapanesePod101.com's free podcast on this subject:
http://www.japanesepod101.com/2007/05/10/lower-intermediate-lesson-23-reunion-i/

References:

JapanesePod101.com
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/kanji/kanji/a.htm