From The Heart

Let Go of the Past  |  by Corine Pevny

“We keep ourselves so tied up in regretting the past and fearing the future that we don’t have any energy left to figure out who we are and what we want to create right now.” ~ Gay Hendricks


How many of you have heard the phrase "bury the hatchet?"  What does that mean to you?  How many of you have 'buried the hatchet' at certain times in your life, just to dig it up again?  That's an interesting thought, isn't it?

Think about a painful part of your past.  Picture it in your mind.  Picture the people involved in it...people who have hurt you, caused you pain, embarrassment, or sadness.  How do you feel inside when you think about that memory?  Do you feel emotional?  Are there feelings of anger or resentment?  Or do you simply feel neutral?  If the feelings you have are anything but neutral, then you are stuck in the past, and that weakens you.  How many of you think that you've forgiven someone, only to see them again and those old 'feelings' come up...the tightness in your chest or the old heartache?

There is nothing you can do to change the past.  It's already happened.  Thinking about it, dwelling on it, hashing it over, or complaining about it will not change it.  However, it can change you.  If your thought processes are creating guilt, pride, resentment, anger, regret or self-pity, then you are not only reinforcing a false sense of self, but also helping to accelerate your body's aging process by creating an accumulation of past in your psyche.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to see if your are 'stuck' in the past:

1.  Does the past take up a great deal of my attention?
2.  Do I frequently talk and think about it, either positively or negatively?  (The great things that I have achieved, my adventures or experiences; or my victim story and the dreadful things that were done to me, or maybe things I did to someone else.)

Living in the present moment requires work!  It requires an awareness of your thoughts, and acting on them.  If they are negative, let them go.  Replace them with a positive thought.  This will take practice, but it will also change your life!

You don't need the past.  Feel the power of this moment and the fullness of Being.  Feel your presence!