101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting by Ernie J. Zelinski

Author:Ernie J. Zelinski
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Visions International Publishing
Published: 2013-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

55: Your Past Is Always Going to Be the Way It Was — So Stop Trying to Change It!

It should go without saying that it’s impossible to alter the past. Yet many people give it their best shot by living in the past. They dwell so much on the past that they never get to truly live the present moment and create a better future for themselves.

Like many people, you may have heard the well-founded clichés, such as “What’s done is done,” and “You can’t turn back the clock,” but you still spend too much time in the past. If you presently spend a lot of time thinking about events long gone, it is imperative that you correct your behavior. Regrets over yesterday and fears about tomorrow are the biggest thieves of time and energy. Whenever we spend our time with regrets about yesterday and worries about tomorrow, we miss out on what is happening today.

Perhaps you believe that there is great value in trying to understand the past so that you can figure yourself out — why you do certain things, why you react in certain ways, and why you create drama in your life. There is a slight catch about analyzing the past, however: Most people who spend a lot of time dwelling on the past never do get their lives in order. In fact, the harder the mind struggles with the past, the greater the pain that the mind experiences. You will not free yourself from that pain until you cease to dwell on the past, until you cease deriving your sense of self from past experiences.

If you heavily dwell on the past, it becomes a bottomless pit. You may think that you need a lot of time to understand the past and become free from it. On some level you may even think you can change the past. This is both insane and delusional. The core of the matter is that your past is always going to be the way it was — so stop trying to change it! The only thing that can free you from the past is for you to forget about it.

Granted, there can be a way to make amends for something you have done in the past and this should be a consideration. If not, then chalk the past event up as a learning experience. Give careful thought to what has happened only long enough to figure out what to do differently in the future. Then forget the event and start living the moment for all it is worth. As George Washington pointed out, “We ought not to look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dear-bought experience.”

Clearly, you must give up any hope for a better past. Fortunately, you don’t need a better past to have a promising future. Regardless of how lousy of a past you had, it is always possible to start anew. Stop telling yourself that it’s too late or you are too old.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.