Do you feel stuck, like you are not progressing towards your goals? It might be because you are clinging to something that happened in the past. Today we are going to see how to unleash the power of letting go.
As a result, you’ll have the opportunity to move on - without allowing your past to get in the way and hold you back - so that you can achieve your goals.
Let me start with a thought-provoking question: Would you climb a mountain with a rucksack full of junk?
Of course, you wouldn’t!
You would carry only the bare essentials, i.e. some water, food, and clothes, wouldn’t you?
This way, you would be more likely to get to the top, without giving up on your journey towards the top due to your excessive weight.
So why do you carry so much weight day in, day out?
Why do you carry with you all the negative thoughts and feelings, such as anger, frustration, resentment, shame, guilt about events that happened in your past?
Whether it is something that you did wrong and you wish you had done better - or something wrong that other people did to you, or even something that happened in your life - do you realize how much useless weight you are carrying on your back in the present moment?
Do you realize how this weight is preventing you from living your life to the fullest and achieving your goals?
Clinging to all the negative thoughts and feelings is like filling up your rucksack with stones!
How likely would you be to get to the top of the mountain?
Would it not be easier if you dropped the stones?
Let me put it another way.
Would you allow a thief to get into your house and live there rent-free forever?
No, you wouldn’t!
So, why do you allow the negative thoughts and feelings from your past to invade your mind and your heart like a virus?
Why do you allow them to steal your happiness and joy now, in this present moment?
They can only affect all areas of your life and stop you from becoming the best version of yourself.
You need to move on, stop cheating on your future with your past.
You cannot change the past, but, you can always change the way you look at things.
Look at your past from a different perspective, and use it to your advantage rather than to your disadvantage.
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”. - Wayne Dyer
I believe that everything happens for a specific reason, yet, what we do about it is our own choice!
Alber Einstein once said:
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle”.
In other words, you can either live your life as if everything happens to you, or as everything happens for you.
In the first case, you have a victim mindset, you focus on the negative side of everything.
Instead, when you believe that everything happens for you, you have a champion mindset.
You consider every single event, good or bad, an opportunity to learn and become better.
The most successful people in the world look at what happens in their life as something that is happening for them and not to them!
Every single event, good or bad, is happening for a reason, for their own benefit.
“What happened, happened and couldn’t have happened in any other way… because it didn’t”. - Peter Crone
Bottom line: the first step is to accept everything that happens in your life and have faith and trust that it occurs for a reason.
The next step is to learn from any event and take advantage of it.
Think for a moment of some of the hardest seasons in your life.
I’ll also challenge you to think of some positive and priceless lessons you have learned.
If you haven’t learned anything, force yourself, because every cloud has a silver lining.
No matter how painful something that occurred in your past was, you can always find a positive side to it.
As a result, you can make different choices, take different actions and create a better future.
LESSONS I’VE LEARNED FROM MY PAST DARK SEASONS
One of the hardest periods in my life was when I didn't speak to my dad for over one year.
Little did I know back then that the broken relationship between me and my father would lead me to move to England, which opened up plenty of opportunities to me.
What’s more, the distance between my father and me allowed our relationship to flourish back.
Since then I’ve been investing part of my time to nurture relationships.
Another episode that had a big impact on my life was my phobia of pollution.
For years I was trapped by this irrational fear.
I didn’t get out of my house unless it was strictly necessary.
I suffered a lot.
Yet, thanks to it, I’ve learned how fears are limiting and how to overcome them.
Fears only keep you far away from the life you dream about.
Thus, I decided not to allow irrational fears such as fear of judgment, of not being good enough, of failure, etc, to stop me from taking action towards my goals.
Of course, when I went through these two seasons in my life it was not fun and I wish my life had been different, i.e. I had had a lovely relationship with my dad and not experienced years of irrational fears.
Yet, I am grateful, because thanks to the above events I am the person I am today.
I am someone who believes dreams are worth chasing, and who gives his best every day to become a tiny better than the day before.
Thus, I can show up in the best possible way for myself and the people around me, and hopefully, inspire as many of them to pursue their dreams.
You see, I could look at my years spent running away from my phobia as time wasted, yet, I prefer to look at them as life lessons.
The same holds for the relationship with my dad.
Here’s another example that is popping up in my mind right now; an unprecedented event that impacted all of us, Covid-19.
As I have already mentioned in one of my previous posts - unlike most people - I didn’t consider Covid-19 the worst ever crisis, but a wake-up call and opportunity.
Remember: It’s always up to us what we do with what occurs in our life!
A FEW MORE WAYS TO LOOK AT AND LEARN FROM YOUR PAST
1) Imagine you have lost one person you love. How can you find something good out of this dreadful life experience?
You could decide to spend more valuable time with your loved ones because you have realized that you were taking something for granted.
You could start nurturing your relationships because you have understood how important they are.
So, instead of focusing on the bad experience, you can use it as a lesson.
You can use it to make the most out of your present moment and create a better future.
Does it make sense?
2) Imagine your partner has cheated on you. Ok, fair enough, you could think for a moment: “How Bas*ards they were...”!
But, let’s look at it from a different angle and quickly shift our focus from negative to positive.
Would you be really happy if this person was still in your life?
Probably you wouldn’t.
You deserve much more, someone who loves and appreciates you.
Because you have gone through this unpleasant experience now you have a knack at spotting red flags!
You know what kind of partner suits you the most and who doesn’t, thus you are more likely to find your soul mate.
3) Imagine you have been fired.
Let’s shift our attitude!
It’s not a tragedy, on the contrary, it can be the opportunity to start a new career or the business you have been dreaming about for a lifetime.
4) Imagine you have been diagnosed with a serious illness.
What are the options?
You can either give up, or roll up your sleeves, and make a change!
What would you do?
Would you look at it as THE END, or as a NEW CHAPTER - as the opportunity to reconsider all your habits and replace them with more empowering ones - so that you can keep enjoying your life?
Bottom line: hitting rock bottom and going through tough moments doesn’t mean you are f*cked.
On the contrary, it can be the opportunity for a life change!
Remember: personal development and wisdom come from challenging life events.
“A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”. - Franklin D. Roosevelt
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you want to be free, stop locking yourself in the prison of the past.
Let go of the negative thoughts and feelings you are carrying with you.
Empty your rucksack from useless weight and keep only the valuable lessons from your past.
They are the assets and foundations on which you’ll build a better future and through which you’ll achieve your goals.
Ask yourself:
"What is the treasure hiding in the challenging event I am going through"?
"What lesson can I learn from it, to use my past to my advantage and propel myself towards a better future"?
Accept and trust what comes your way, it is the Universe providing you with new opportunities.
Be grateful for the tough times because they’ll pay off great rewards, provided you learn the priceless lessons concealed in them.
I am looking forward to hearing how you'll make the most out of your past, using it to your advantage rather than as a weight on your back.
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