The Weight of The Past

A friend of mine recently grappled with some regrets of her past with respect to the way she feels she could have done more for someone who has since died, as well as other concerns.

It can be very difficult to let go of our regrets when we look back, and it is so clear to see what we could have done better in retrospect as well.

However, holding on to regret is like dragging the past along with us wherever we go.

It drains our energy and prevents us from living our lives at the moment as we continue to feed the residual feelings of an old issue.

This sort of attachment to feeling can breed illness in the same way that watering a dead plant causes decay of the soil.

When we lose a plant, we know that something new and beautiful can grow in that same soil, if we prepare the soil properly and plant the right seeds.

We also know that we create our lives through our thoughts and minds, so dwelling on our past might actually create or recreate a situation in our lives where we are forced to make a choice or perform an action time and again.

We can choose, however, to move forward right now by applying what we have learned to our present situations, perhaps even sharing our learning with others, therefore transforming a negative element into something that is constructive, positive, and helpful to ourselves as well as others.

Forgiveness is the soothing balm that heals the painful wounds of regret.

Through prayerful meditation, we can imagine discussing the issue at hand with the self of our past, and offer forgiveness in return through what we have learned from our experiences.

In return, we can also ask ourselves for forgiveness for allowing our selves to be inhibited by feelings of regret.

We may also ask forgiveness from anyone else who might have been affected by our actions or take this opportunity to offer our own forgiveness.

If we replay the event which concerns us in our minds, we can choose a new ending through imaginative reflection, using what we have learned.

This will allow us to virtually return to the event, make the changes we need in order to right it, and then say goodbye to it in comfort that we know what we did wrong, what we would do to correct it, and what we will do in the future.

Once done, we can return to the present and release our former self with a hug and bring forgiveness and love back to the present.

We are typically our harshest critics, and it is amazing how powerfully healing it can be to offer love to oue own selves.

By keeping our minds and our energy entirely in the present, we allow ourselves to fuel our physical and emotional healing and well being in the present day.

It is then that we free our energy to create our own dreams for the future, taking responsibility and action in order in the present in order to release the past.

With love & light,

Rob