Shedding the Past to Live in the Now
It feels good to get this one out. I’ve been holding onto this episode for a while now, waiting until the time felt right. And its time has finally come.
Most of you have heard my story by now and know that I’ve had to overcome some pretty big hurdles to get where I am today. My clients are the same way. We all have stuff from our past that, if dwelt upon, would just leave us stuck. I’m talking about bad experiences, wrongs committed against us, bad luck, injustices, accidents -- all of that.
But that was then and this is now.
By holding onto past injuries, we rob ourselves of the present life we could be living. If we ruminate on past injustices and stew in bitterness or feelings of helplessness, we’re just reliving those old memories and reactivating neural patterns of pain and negativity. To our unconscious mind, we’re reliving the past, reinjuring ourselves, over and over again.
It doesn’t have to be this way. I’m living proof, as are my clients. And you can be too.
To get out of the negative past and into the positive present…
- Forgive. Do it for yourself. Holding onto anger and resentment doesn’t hurt anyone but you. Forgiveness isn’t condoning a wrong. It’s refusing to let an event from the past continue to reap negative effects in your life. For more on
- Recognize when you get triggered and break out of those old neural patterns. There are many ways to get out of neural ruts. Sing a song, talk directly to your unconscious mind, do a dance. But don’t take the easy path and keep running the same paralyzing script you have been.
- Control your state. By putting yourself in a positive state, you’ll be more resourceful about shifting your focus to the things you want, to the life you want to live, to the person you want to be. Controlling your state puts you in the driver’s seat -- not your past experiences.
- Remember that this is the present moment. You are here; you’re not stuck in the past. You have choices that you can make right now to make this moment a positive one.
Your past experiences, even the bad ones, contain valuable learnings that can deepen your wisdom and broaden your perspective. Moving past those past experiences doesn’t mean they’re invalid, that they didn’t happen, or that they have no value. It just means they don’t have an emotional hold on you anymore. The past doesn’t need to negatively affect your outcomes. You can get on a positive path and build a beautiful life, free from the past, starting now.
Thanks for listening!
To share your thoughts:
- Leave a note in the comment section below
- Use the “I have a question” button
- Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
Links from today’s episode:
- Episode 15 -- We learned about loosening the charge of negative emotions of past experiences
- Episode 50 -- We learned about controlling the controllables -- your state
- Episode 48 -- The big forgiveness episode
To help out the show: