MAKING PEACE WITH THE PAST

REALIZE + REWIND + RECOGNIZE + REINTERPRET + RELEASE = RELIEF!! 

Are you still carrying around your past? Do most of your conversations focus on your past? Are there painful or unpleasant memories that continually invade your mind? Don’t worry, you are not alone! Now, are you ready to understand your past, make peace with it, so that you can move on and enjoy the rest of your life? Good! Here is my remedy for getting rid of the weight of the world that you have chosen to carry on your shoulders for who knows how long. Yes, I said chosen! Remember, everything in life is a choice which gives you full responsibility for how you have acted and reacted in every situation since you were born. That is a lot of power, if handled properly! Before diving into my recommendations on making peace with your past, please read the following quote which I first read in Dr. Deepak Chopra’s “Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.”: “The past is history, the future is a mystery, and the moment is the gift, or the present.” Please re-read it because it contains such an invaluable message. In regards to the past, the quote means that the past is something that you can not change. It’s history! Now that may seem frightening or disturbing to some of you, but don’t worry, the past is not something you have to carry around with you for the rest of your life either! 

We are a product of all the choices we have made in our past. It’s that simple, yet so complex if you allow your mind to think too much. Some of the choices we have made might have been pleasurable while others may have been painful. Where have your choices been taking you? Once you can take responsibility for “all” of your actions, not “some” of them, then, and only then, can you be free to explore your past in a productive manner. This conscious decision is the key to unlocking the door to your past, allowing you to fully appreciate the moment, and create that freedom of which you are so deserving. Once you have made this decision, I recommend that you follow this five step process to solidify the commitment you have made to yourself: realize, rewind, recognize, reinterpret, and release. Let’s go! 

Realize. This is part of that conscious decision that you have made to yourself to eliminate the painful or unpleasant memories you have of your past. You have come to a point in your life where your past is preventing you from appreciating your life in the present moment. Maybe you can not forget a past relationship, maybe you are still grieving over the loss of a loved one or friend, maybe you were abused as a child or as an adult, or maybe you hurt someone in the past. Everyone’s past is different. Everyone’s past is meaningful to the individual. No one is given to permission to judge the significance of another person’s past. We all have a past, memories of our past, and some people choose to hang onto their pasts while others choose to let go of their pasts. Again, we were not put on this Earth to judge others, rather we were put here to learn from one another. It is my belief that all of our memories outside of love, are weighing us down, inundating our thoughts, and possibly even causing illness and disease. When you reach your personal threshold where you can not endure the frustrations of your past anymore, you seek answers, you seek closure. This is the realization that your past is preventing your life from moving forward. Please give yourself a pat on the back or a big hug. You have taken a courageous first step! Oh yes, there is more and you owe it to yourself to proceed. 

Rewind. One of my greatest teachers, Dr. Deepak Chopra, has said that it is very important that we, “rewind the tape of our lives.” Just like a videotape, he says we can “rewind it, fast-forward it, pause it, stop it, or play it if we so choose.” Close your eyes and try to take all of your senses out of this process. Now bring a painful or unpleasant memory from your past into the present. Bring all the details (colors, people, etc.) to focus so you can really get a clear picture of what happened at that time in your life. If you are beginning to feel emotional, please take a deep breath and try to proceed because deep down inside you want to resolve this issue. If it becomes too painful, just remember that you can stop the tape of your life, open your eyes, and temporarily escape from your past. I say, “temporarily,” only because your past will keep popping up into your present until you resolve the inner conflict and digest your past peacefully. Rewinding the tape of your life allows you to observe your life. You are in total control of this process. It is not an overnight rental from a video store. It is not a video that you can give to your friend and never get back. It is not a tape that everyone knows about unless you choose to share it. And best of all, the video is free and at your disposal anytime you desire it. 

Recognize. Now it is actually time for you to begin reviewing the tape of your life. What do you see? What do you choose not to see? Try not to judge anything that you see. It is almost as if you are watching someone else’s life story. Recognize the patterns you created. Recognize your role in each situation or event. Feel all of the emotions that you had felt once before. You are safe because you are controlling the tape, remember? This is you. Every event, at every second, of every minute, of every hour, and of every day is about you. Your life is a series of actions and reactions. Witness how you have grown; physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Observe all the smiles, all the tears of happiness or sadness, all the frowns, and all the other ways you responded...without judging! This is a movie of your life that has lead you up to this very precious moment in your life. Any changes, any deletions, any additions to this story may have taken you on an entirely different path. Still feeling a bit uncomfortable? That’s quite o-kay and understandable. Now it’s time to insert some peace into your story without changing any events. 

Reinterpret. Don’t we always say that it would be great if we could go back into our pasts and change this or change that? We wish it was that easy. Well, in a way, it is! By reinterpreting something, we can change the energy surrounding it. In a way, it is a change of thinking. Yes, we can change it! We can change our thought process, not the event itself. Ultimately, our objective is to reach a place of acceptance. I like to think of acceptance as that place in between two extremes where life is peaceful and tranquil. Think of a past event that just makes you cringe every time you think about it. How would you like to remove the constant negative energy surrounding it? The sadness or anger may come back from time to time, but no longer will it consume you. Sound good? By reinterpreting your past, you can rewind the tape of your life, identify your role in it, study all the factors involved in the situation, and begin to understand how you may have needed to have that experience to teach you a lesson or help you in your personal development. Sometimes when I begin to question myself in this manner a light bulb goes off inside my head and I say to myself, “Yeah, I get it!” Think of all the negative memories from your past, examine the events leading up to that situation, then, examine some of the events that immediately followed that situation. Is the light bulb beginning to flicker? By not having any so-called “negative” energy surrounding an event does not mean you don’t care or in this next personal example, lost hope. You see, I am in a place of acceptance with my paralysis. No longer do I have any constant anger, sadness, resentment, etc., nor do I sit around all day and smile and say, “I love being paralyzed!” Let’s be serious now! I am negative at times and I am positive at times. It is a perfect balance for me and gives me even more hope to walk again some day. More so, it allows me to focus on something far greater than the use of my legs, a gratefulness of my life. When you accept a circumstance in your life, no longer are you attached or confined to an extreme. Reinterpretation is the direct path to acceptance. 

Release. Once you have reinterpreted an event in your life and have moved into a place of acceptance, you are free. You have chosen to release the negative energy surrounding a past memory and have taken full responsibility for your role in each and every event in your life. This awakening will lead you to a place of euphoria and a deep appreciation for just about everything in your life because you know that everything has happened for a reason. How many times have you heard that line and just wanted to hit someone? Well, now you will not want to because you will begin to understand that everything does happen for a reason and serves a purpose. Please remember that this whole process is a commitment that you have made to yourself. You deserve to break free from your past. You deserve to be happy again. It’s your choice! Again, where are your choices taking you? 

Thanks for listening! 

Scott 

VISION

ITINERARY

DIARY

NEWSLETTER

SPONSORS

ARCHIVES