The past is forgotten, the future is closed, the present is a gift
(c) from the movie “Kung Fu Panda”
To fully live in the present, you need to leave the past behind.
You probably understand yourself that it’s important to stop dwelling on failures and old problems, regretting your mistakes, and being angry at past offenders…
In short, remove everything that pulls you back – and joyfully move forward…
Today we’ll talk about how to stop living in the past.
See also: 7 reasons to leave the past behind
Looking only at the past is like walking down a road backwards: you see nothing but your own old footprints. A goal sometimes may not be realized simply because, in truth, you’re moving toward it out of an old habit, while you yourself have long outgrown it and lost interest in it.
7 practices for how to stop judging yourself for your past life
1. Make a decision to work on how to stop living in the past
“Healing” won’t happen on its own – you have to make a choice: “I stop living in the past” and start taking action. The good news is that now you don’t need to “cut off the tail piece by piece,” picking at and working through every trauma for years.
In today’s energy conditions, healing happens holistically.
2. Send love and forgiveness to your past self
Continuing to scold yourself for mistakes, “wrong choices,” and actions is a surefire way to live in the past for your whole life.
Simply accept that in the past you acted the way you could, based on your “then” knowledge, capabilities, and level of awareness.
Without “that, former you,” there would be no current you. And in those difficult moments in the past, you were very scared or sad, you might have felt confusion and uncertainty, and felt no one’s support.
Show love and compassion to your past self. Just remember yourself in one of those tough moments and send the light of your love and caring attention there. Say to yourself the words you so needed to hear at that time.
See also: How to acknowledge your feminine worth: 10 tips
Some people scold themselves for knowingly or unknowingly causing pain to others; for making a “wrong” decision at some point in life.
Others even manage to judge themselves for allowing themselves to be treated poorly in the past – for not protecting themselves from an abuser, for not leaving a tyrannical man in time.
3. Heal your pain and traumas
It’s the old unhealed wounds that chafe the soul and make us live in the past. Some are as fresh as if they happened yesterday.
You need to heal yourself. This is a fundamental action on the path to a light and free life.
4. Thank the past for its wisdom
No matter how difficult a situation may be, after going through it, you become better, wiser, and stronger.
If right now you are troubled by specific traumatic situations from the past, try the «Pearls of Wisdom» technique.
Think and write down a few points — what this situation taught you, what this action, this person taught you, how your life changed, what you realized and understood thanks to that event.
What you write down are the pearls of wisdom. Keep them for yourself, in the present. And the rest of the burden from that situation, release with gratitude. You have taken the most important part from it.
See also How to Find Wisdom in an Unpleasant Situation
5 more ways to find the pearl of wisdom in a traumatic event.
5. Forgive People from the Past
By forever holding onto anger at those who wronged you, you will never stop living in the past.
In reality, the people who hurt you «back then» no longer exist. You have changed, and they have changed. In fact, they are already different people.
Those you are angry at or hold a grudge against for the past — they are no longer them, they are their psychological doubles in your mind and memory. And you can always come to an agreement with your own memory and consciousness.
An important note — if past grievances affect your relationships with people in your present (family members, friends), you need to work here especially tactfully, without violating their spiritual space.
See also Transforming Hatred into Love. How to Heal This Destructive Feeling
In the article, you will learn how to change the polarity — move from hatred to love and forgive those who wronged you.
6. Recognize and Rewrite Old Scenarios
A scenario is behavior «on autopilot», riding on old tracks. It is programmed into the subconscious and, time and again, makes you step on the same rake.
It is important to find and rewrite such scenarios. There are special exercises for this. For example, perform a vivid creative action that «replaces the picture»: conduct a ritual: melt the ice from the refrigerator, like the ice of relationships.
You can come up with something of your own.
See also 7 Reasons Why Our Realization is Slowed Down
Scenarios are an automatic mechanism that clicks somewhere inside and makes you react and act in a patterned way over and over. Past traumas cannot simply be erased. But they can be consciously worked through. And ineffective scenarios can be rewritten into more successful ones.
7. Focus on the Present!
Simply shift your attention to the present, right to this moment. What are you wearing? What do you want right now? Is your body comfortable? What is your joy right now? What is valuable to you in your current life?
You will see how much energy, joy, and opportunity there is in your present!
See also Say «YES» to a New Life
Increased efficiency, perseverance, attention to detail, knowledge in areas that were previously inaccessible — all of this came with a new wave. And it began the moment another pile of old energy was cleared away…