Many get caught up in life dramas of past happenings and become lost in the search for their meaning. There is one thing that you can be sure of, the past cannot be changed! Why is it that so many people become attached to past experiences and are caught up in them? It is not that all things should be forgotten, but it is important to be aware that if you are constantly thinking of the past, then you are keeping the past alive by reliving it over and over again in your mind.
The past is a significant teacher for everyone. It can help you understand how to avoid repeating the same mistakes again and again. One of the important questions that you can ask yourself is “what do I do with the memories and feelings of the past?” If you are lost in the past then this is most likely deeply connected to your stored emotions and needs. By looking for the deeper meaning of what is happening in your life, much can be forgiven and therefore healed.
The past, present and future are linked to how we perceive time in our physical reality. To heal negative past experiences you need to understand the meaning of expectations, acceptance and forgiveness. It is not that you should forget your past, and you should definitely not lock it away in your mind or in your emotions as if it never happened; this is just escaping. But how do expectations, acceptance and forgiveness play a role in relation to time? Have you ever been lost through having strong thoughts of a past experience? Your past experiences are often responsible for creating negative forces such as fear. When you carry fear, then you are lost in your emotional and logical aspects. Both positive and negative experiences in life are valuable teachers. The events that you have experienced may give you insight, leading to a new experience. It can be an opportunity to transform a fear attached to the past experience. If you have experienced a negative happening in the past, you will at some point in time face it again in order to heal and rebuild from that point.
When you look at the bigger picture of what the past represents, you may see it as an opportunity for change and learning. If however you have a fear connected to a past event, this may prevent you from moving forward. You may fear recreating what you have experienced before, and you therefore dare not take that step into the unknown, as the future will seem too scary.
Expectations can also keep you caught up in the energies of the past and the future. Expectations can take you away from being present, simply because you are holding onto your past with future projections. You may have been rewarded for something in the past and you expect that to happen again. The reward system can be felt as a feel-good sensation, which can make you want more of the same thing. This could lead you into becoming greedy. It may also be that through a negative experience of the past you try to make the future safe. You expect a negative past experience to be repeated and try to avoid it happening in the future, this is fear. Similarly, when you have experienced a fantastic joyful moment in the past, you may try to recreate it. But it can of course never be the same! You can become so attached to the past that you continually seek to recreate it. Then you may find that you are seldom being present. All expectations block the freedom of being in the present moment because expectations are a trap for disappointment!
By accepting you are taking a very important step towards releasing yourself from any form of dependency. When you accept where you are in the moment, you release yourself from the past to become present in the moment. Through acceptance you can move on into the next moment, that of trust. Trust is a step towards faith. To have faith is to respect your powers and to trust in the Universal flow of life, which can liberate and free you from past fears.
Forgiveness releases you from the past. Forgiving is not a task that you must do, it is something that comes from the heart. When you forgive another person, you are not judging. This allows you to accept in truth what you are experiencing. If you are able to let go of your fears, ego, expectations and emotional imbalances, you are actually releasing the past in order to be present in your heart. To forgive yourself and others is an important step to take in order to move on and share your gifts!
How often have you given your power away to the past? When your thoughts and feelings are caught up in the past, you may feel like a victim or you may choose to stay in the drama. How often do you allow the past to control your life to the extent that you find it difficult to be in the present? The past serves to remind you of what it was like. In no way should anyone become attached to it, be it positive or negative. Ask yourself this basic question with anything that comes into your life: What is it showing me? Then embrace it and begin to search for the wisdom that comes with the experience of that moment. You decide what to do next.
Love and light, Ralph Jenkins
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