Ah,
Time thief.
Yeah,
That's what I call it.
Because if we're not careful,
If we spend too much time and with the wrong purpose in the past,
It can preoccupy us.
That can take us away from the present moment,
Stealing our productivity and possibly even stressing us out about something that can't be changed.
Because it's in the past.
Yeah,
The past.
But when we think about the past to review and learn from,
That's the preferred practice.
But the hard part that no one tells us about or teaches us is how to let it go after that.
No worry.
That's really in our human nature and our DNA to hold onto.
Because when we were evolving as a species,
We learned what was harmful or good to us and held onto that for quick survival access.
However,
Today,
We're a different version of species.
Yeah?
We've luckily evolved to a point where we can learn the lesson from the past,
But then let it go.
Because we don't need to carry all the stresses we face in every experience around for a lifetime,
That's daunting.
If you think about it,
We already know how to let go.
We naturally let go of the past without knowing.
I'm sure you've already forgotten about the numerous times you may have misbehaved and were disciplined for it as a child.
Why?
Well,
Partly because it was a long time ago.
But the main reason is because you learned from it and you moved on.
You naturally let go.
But in the end,
You keep the lesson.
You keep the knowledge.
You access it when needed again in life.
So as long as we carry the past with us where we can't detach from the anger of the situation that occurred,
The sadness,
The hurt,
We'll always continue to suffer.
Think of it as a drop of your energy a day.
That gathers quickly over a month or two,
And then you run out of space in those buckets to carry it.
So you begin to bury it.
It doesn't mean that it's gone.
It's that you threw it in the closet rather than cleaning it.
Kind of like when you have company coming and you're not prepared,
Your place is a mess.
You throw the mess in the closet.
So you have to make peace with that past in order to learn,
Evolve,
And live your life to the fullest.
The tip here that I want to share is how to begin letting go.
Number one,
First step is you've got to identify the what.
What is it that you keep thinking about?
After you identify that,
Then you've got to ask yourself why.
Be honest and realize why you keep thinking about this.
Is it anger,
Sadness,
Hopelessness?
And once you realize that,
We have to move to the how.
How do we begin to detach from this past,
This past memory?
I'm going to give you 10 steps,
10 steps that work for me.
Okay?
Number one is consciousness.
You have to become aware of your thoughts.
You have to become aware of when you begin thinking about the past,
That you're thinking about the past.
And when you do that,
It's easier to change the channel.
All right?
You realize you're thinking about a past moment that you can't let go.
Change the channel.
That's one way.
Number two,
If you're stuck constantly thinking about this past,
One recommendation is,
And it's going to sound kind of funny,
But rearrange your furniture.
Yeah?
Put everything in the opposite place because mentally you're not used to that.
And that's going to distract you from the past because you're going to be thinking of where everything is.
Sounds funny,
But it works.
Number three,
And this is the most important one,
Take the time to address the thoughts.
If you're thinking about the past,
Find the lesson.
If it's not readily available,
Change the channel.
Move on.
But give your time to address the thoughts.
Try to find the lesson.
Number four,
Practice mindfulness.
This is going to help you with your consciousness.
Do that mental fitness.
One good mental fitness exercise in this case is meditation.
All right?
So make some time to meditate.
Number five,
Take the lesson if there is one and realize it at the moment.
Okay?
So as I said,
Address your thoughts.
Try to find that lesson.
And number six is equally important.
If there is no practical lesson to be understood yet,
Don't fret.
Don't get angry.
Don't get frustrated.
Sometimes the lesson is just clear as day in front of our face.
And other times,
Things happen where we just don't understand why.
One day,
We will learn the lesson.
But make peace with that.
If you can't find the lesson,
Tell yourself that the lesson will appear at the right time and then move on.
Okay?
Number seven,
If there is a lesson,
If you've identified that lesson,
Accept it.
Don't argue it.
If you argue it,
That's ego holding on to the past.
So kick ego aside.
Learn the lesson and accept it,
Whether good or bad.
Number eight,
Put you first.
If you take the lesson and you're trying to move on and you become conscious that you're still thinking about the past,
Put you first.
Go do something for yourself.
Do something productive.
Something that's going to distract you from thinking about the past.
It's not magic,
But it takes work.
So put you first.
Number nine,
Plan your change and foster it.
Then work at it and push yourself.
Okay?
So you take the lesson and then you plan the change on how you're going to improve the next time or what you're going to do the next time with the lesson that you just learned.
And number 10 is really one of the most important.
All of these are important,
But move.
If you're being stagnant,
If you're doing nothing,
If you're not doing any of these nine steps I said before,
Then you're in danger of just staying still,
Thinking about the past and wasting time.
Get up and move.
If you don't move,
Nothing will happen.
And I'm sure you don't want to live in the past.
So there you go.
This is how I get through a tough time of letting go.
I hope this helps.
