Honoring your Past to Free Yourself for the Future

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.” 

-Eleanor Roosevelt

We have all heard this right? But the emphasis on the present moment being a gift is not all there is to it. This moment is your only point of power. This moment that you are in is the only “real” moment, and it is where each choice, each decision, each course setting for the trajectory of your life is made. 

The interesting and perhaps more complicated thing about this moment is that within it we carry all of our past experiences and all of our future potential. We are all dealing with habitual mental patterns that shape the context of each situation that is presented to us. Many times, we may even find ourselves replaying a past situation in different ways wishing we could have done it differently and get stuck there. Because of this, there is a lot of conversation about letting go of the past. But how? Especially when we have been hurt.

How important and in what ways can honoring a past hurt be beneficial?

I believe it is very important and extremely beneficial, although there are many ways to approach it and no one way is better. When we are hurt, whether it is physically, emotionally or spiritually there is a disruption in our energy field and our system takes that in, creates an awareness of what happened and begins to make a plan for when it happens again. Maybe it’s a defense plan, maybe it’s a strategy to be sure it won’t happen again. Regardless, we begin to form patterns that become unconscious. Sort of like setting your plane on autopilot. Because these patterns were created out of fear of being hurt, it keeps that original hurt alive and active and after a while this can manifest in the body.

There are many different forms of thought on releasing the past. We often think that we need to identify the original source of the pain to forgive and release it. However, sometimes the mind can obsess and analyze a situation to a point where the obsession of figuring out the root cause of pain becomes its own pain. 

At this point it is important to step back. And step back again. Remember how different a tree looks close up as opposed to looking at a forest as you are flying over it or seeing a distant forest on a mountain. The tree is the same but if we look at it from a different vantage point, we can see it in a different context. 

If we can step back and observe situations where we have felt the same pain, or followed the same patterns, (like when the same thing happens over and over again) we can often detangle ourselves from the current state of the emotional body and shift our perspective from personal to impersonal.

Acknowledging that every situation we find ourselves in is a part of our life path of learning, our “curriculum” so to speak, it can shift us from feeling like a victim of our circumstances to a more empowered place where active healing can occur.

I am 100% not saying this is easy. Some courses are extremely challenging and we may need to take them over and over until we gain the knowledge that that course is offering. But the knowledge is there. We may have to try many different ways of studying – maybe even turning the book upside down before we fully understand. But the knowledge is there. Inside each one of us.

Don’t give up.

Wherever you are in your life right now, honor the courses you are engaged in. Immerse yourself in the gifts that learning can bring.

Maybe you are in a course you love right now, sailing through each moment savoring the bliss of accomplishment.

Maybe you decided to challenge yourself with a double major and are struggling hardcore.

Whatever the case, dive deep, step back or turn the book upside down and embrace the knowledge that you hold and the true beauty of you.

Much love to you on your journey,

Sri Devi Melissa