How To Let Go Of The Past and Create A Better Future?

Everyone has faced some painful moments in the past. Some people spend their entire life thinking about their past. They stop enjoying their present moment and keep reeling in the past. They have a difficult time to let go of the pain. Holding on to the painful memories of the past somehow safeguards us from experiencing it again.

But this pain they you carry within yourself damages your health. We do not have any freedom from it. It is needed to learn from the lessons of the past and move forward in life. In this article, we will tell you some effective ways to become free from the past and create a better future.

Why Should You Stop Thinking About The Past?

Several events happen in our life. Some are pleasant and some are not. The bad events can leave a deep scar in the mind. It may not be easier for us to come out of it and continue with the life as if nothing happened.

With time, everything heals. However, in some cases, people are not able to forget the memories of their past for several years. It adversely impacts their ego, self-esteem, confidence, ability to trust, ability to make a bond with others.

The negative emotions that you hold within you becomes the reason of self-destruction. You lose the ability to embrace your life. Human beings have got the ability to retain information that is linked with emotions.

Such events are not easy to let go. It becomes difficult to digest the mistakes done by you or by others. The more you resist those emotions, the more it occupies a free rental space in your mind. You have no freedom from it. You feel the constant struggle within yourself. Continuously thinking about the pain causes real-time damage that eventually results to the failure.

When you constantly look at the past, you fail to see new opportunities that are knocking your door. To prevent the future to get affected by the past incidences, let go of your evil past and concentrate on what can be done to bring your life back on track.

Simple Ways To Leave The Past And Create A Better Tomorrow

You have got all the power in yourself that you need to make progress in life. Stop lingering to the past that is holding you back. Implement the below ways to embrace your present to create a better future.

1. Acceptance

This is the most important step to let go of the past events. Majority of people are not able to accept people and situations as they are. Either their emotions, or ego come in between that prevents them to accept the situation and move on with life.

When you don’t make peace with the past, then it stays with you forever. Acceptance is important because we don’t have control over what situations will arise, how people will react in future and more. What we can’t control, we should surrender it to the Supreme Power.

Acceptance should not be misunderstood as the act of resigning to the circumstance.  It is to accept that some things are just beyond our control. It is not to direct our grief, and anger to the other person, or event, but to think that it was destined to happen and that person, or the situation was just the means to make it happen.

You can also understand it in the other way. As you sow, so shall you reap. The sorrow that you are experiencing now is because of your own deeds that you have done in the past. You might have intentionally or unintentionally caused pain to someone in the past, and they have come in a different form to give you the fruits of your actions.

So, do not attach the grief to any person or event. This realization gives you freedom from the past. Just when you accept your past and make peace with it, you start to experience a reduction in anxiety levels. You feel more at ease with you and your emotions.

Also, some people want to take revenge or cause hurt to the other person to get rid of the past. This technique won’t give you any freedom from the past. It is better to let the Divine do the justice. When you decide to do harm to the other person, you indirectly make more karmas that can give you more pain in the future. So, Acceptance is a very important tool to get freedom from the past.

2. Find Healthy Ways To Express Your Deep Lying Emotions

Another good way to let go of your past is to express it. You may feel light and it can help in reducing the pain. Reflect on your personal state and how the event triggered you. Expressing the emotions does not mean that you should go to person and vent out all the anger on him/her. Creating a scene like this will only make the situation worse.

There are healthy ways to release your long-held emotions.  Writing is one of the best ways to release your anger/pain/frustration/sadness/ hatred etc. on paper. Another good way is to do meditation.

This practice not just lightens you from inside, but also gives you enormous inner strength and make you unshakeable from within. Regular practice of meditation makes you rock solid from inside so that no event, or no incident can take away your happiness.

3. Forgive Yourself And Others

Forgiveness is an incredible tool if you want to heal from your past. It is not always anger that can eat you up, but also the guilt of doing wrong to others that can cause you pain. Under both the scenarios, you need to forgive yourself, as well as forgive others. However, it is important to not take it as an excuse and do whatever you want to do.

Forgive yourself if you have caused harm to anyone intentionally and unintentionally. Also, if somebody has wronged you, forgive them because they did it out of their ignorance and limited thinking. Bless them that they get wisdom in life.

Forgiveness helps you come out of the victim mentality and put you in an empowered position. However, developing this quality and practicing it is not as easy as it seems. That is the reason, it is called to be the virtue of the strong and courageous people. The great saint, Mahavir Swami, has preached this noble virtue as “Kshama Virasya Bhushnam”, which means that forgiveness is a virtue of brave and courageous people.

Once you start to practice this tool, then you will notice that you feel so light and emotionally balanced. You will be at peace, unharmed and unaffected. You get an enormous power that nothing can touch you mentally. You feel free, and light while enjoying the life events without getting attached to it.

4. Think About What You Value The Most In Life

Any pain or sorrow that you experience in your life teaches you something. It makes you more mature. You learn what you don’t want to experience in the future. If you do not analyze on what went wrong, and why it happened, then you won’t learn how to prevent the same situations from occurring again in the life. You can’t protect yourself from such type of situations to occur in the future.

Have you seen some people wonder why their past keeps on repeating again and again? Here is the answer. They have not addressed their past issues, and have not made the effort to learn from them. Due to which the same situations happen in their life again and cause them hurt. This cycle will continue for several years and you will again and again feel victimized. You think I have no freedom from the past, and the old wounds starts to affect you again.

To stop this “merry go round” to happen throughout your life, you need to get in touch with yourself. Understand what made you hurt in the past and what are those values, for which you can’t compromise. This self-introspection and brainstorming session are necessary to get in touch with your own self. Learn from this painful experience.

Prepare a list of all those things that hurts you and are not acceptable under any circumstances. For example: If you felt that in your past relationship, you gave importance to other person so much that you stopped valuing yourself and that brought you immense pain, then make “Self-Love” and “Self-Respect” your priority.

Everyone can have their own experiences. Think about those values that you don’t want to compromise at any cost. Learn from the past, implement the teachings at the present, and create a better tomorrow. So, once you learn from the past, and practice your values, then it will not haunt you again. In this way, you will get complete freedom from it.

5. Be In The Moment

The way we respond to good or bad situations in life creates a distinctive personal story. Do not lose yourself in the past. Always know that the hurt you have experienced before has made you who you are. You have become a better version of yourself. Every pain must have made you stronger than yesterday.

Know that you are the creator of your life. You have the power to erase the canvas and fill it with beautiful memories. This will only happen when you decide to move on from the past. Start to enjoy the beauty of life. The more you feel good, the more the universe will create the situations to make you feel good in life. Move ahead with confidence and conviction, that the life always flows in the best direction.

6. Work on your goals

Your goals in life can help you move from the past. If you have a burning desire in your heart to achieve something in life then work with all the energy and focus to accomplish it in life. It will definitely keep you encouraged, and motivated.

Having a clarity on your goals will keep you focused and on the right track. When you put your energy on working on your career, personality, and other aspects of life, then it will make you more productive. It will enrich your life in multitude ways.

7. Engage Yourself In Any Activity

Another effective way to move on in life is to make your life busy so that you do not have the time to feel sad. It can be by working on your personality to become fitter and more attractive. Love yourself. Start doing all those things that interests you. Dance, music, writing, exercise, etc. have been seen as remarkable healers.

They are one of the best ways to relieve from stress, and makes you feel good about yourself. Get involved in activities that feeds your soul. Start serving deprived sections in the society. You will start to feel that you are above than the events in life.

You will feel blessed of being bestowed with good health that many people in the world are not fortunate to have. This feeling of gratefulness, and making a positive change in the life of people will definitely help you become thankful, calmer, and relaxed. You start to lose the grip on past events from which you were not able to get any freedom.

Regular practice of Yoga, rhythmic breathing exercises, and meditation are believed to slowly remove all the impressions registered on the mind that cause you pain. These practices help in bringing and maintaining proper collaboration between the body, and mind to throw away undesired emotions attached to the past. They widen your horizon, and encourage you to reach higher levels of success in life.

Conclusion

Respect the enormous power in the body, and mind. Don’t let your past take away the beauty of the present moment and destroy the future. Don’t restrict yourself. Conquer your fears and emotions and move with the flow. Focus on living the present to create a productive, inspiring and loving future.

Practice these steps in your daily life, to become free from the clutches of the past.  These powerful ways will help you overcome your past events, move on in life, and use the full potential to make the maximum out of the life.

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