Taking Stock
Since we are currently invited daily to swim in a cesspool of political negativity, let’s make a decision to take a deep breath and do something useful for our own clarity. We all have personal stories about our lives. Good stories. Bad stories. His-tory. Her-story.
We have memories of incidents from our past that link together to create a backdrop that frames our present experiences.
The stronger the attachment to the past, the more influence the attitudes and behaviors from that past will have on our future.
It is human nature to focus and hold on to the negative aspects of life experiences, rather than savor the positive. I don’t know why that is. Maybe we are afraid that if we forgive and forget the past, we will repeat the same mistakes.
Unfortunately, the more we focus on what didn’t work, the more we are doomed to repeat the pattern. Thus the saying: “You never get enough of what you really don’t want.”
Today, we are going to quickly visit our current attitudes about our past. You have three choices. Negative, positive, or neutral.
Pick one. I know it seems too general, too simple, and too broad. Just play along with me anyway.
If you choose “negative” as your descriptive word, add feelings to it. For example: “My past was negative. I feel angry about it. Mad. Sad. Resentful. Cheated. Abused.” Call it. Name it.
If you decide to call it “positive,” add feelings to that. “My past was positive. I feel fortunate. Lucky. Blessed. Cared for. Cherished.”
Are you noticing anything curious yet? You might be discovering that your past was predominately negative, yet you presently feel positive about it. You may be finding that your past was mostly positive, yet you feel negative because life never seems as good as it was then.
This simple exercise is now turning a bit complex. Let’s sort it out.
First, let’s narrow our categories to two. Positive or negative. .
Of course, your past is made up of a little bit of this and a little bit of that; both positive and negative fueling your expectations for the future.
Here is a way to look at your yesterdays. If painful memories are attached to you today, know this. You have already experienced the pain of the incidents. Therefore, the past is most likely hanging around because you have not claimed the wisdom from the experience. When you claim the wisdom as your earned right, reward, and useful tool for enhanced personal power, then the memory can detach and recede. Its job is done.
Since we cannot control life, the next best thing is to come to terms with yesterday. Glean the wisdom. Claim it. Own it. Breathe in.
Make room for today. Clear the slate. Breathe out. Open your mind and heart to expansion. It is time to re-new. Re-solution.
There is a saying that the intellect solves problems and the heart dissolves them. This means that if you simply acknowledge your heart hurts as a viable part of your wisdom base, the hurt can heal.
The way that you will know that you are on your way to healing is that, if you will allow it, your softened heart will attract new experiences to you of the nurturing and loving kind.
Get ready to court new levels of healing and self-acceptance by firmly standing in today and then as my friend, Nick Nichols, used to say: “Put the good cotton here and the bad cotton there, and keep on dancin’.”
Susan is a local writer and author of “Beyond Intellect: Journey Into the Wisdom of your Intuitive Mind.” susanvelasquez.com
