This is the time of the year when most of us start slowing down and take stock of where we are. Our focus is on planning for a better new year.

Resolutions are made which most probably are adhered to till a week into the New Year. Then we are back where we started. Quite possibly, the challenge is our inability to move forward in positive motion because of our inability to let the past go.

Are you guilty of clinging to the past?

If yes, then please read this post because until you let go of the past (which I also covered in my post ‘Isn’t it time you stopped believing in ghosts) there is no way that you are going to be living in the present or even creating the kind of future that you wish you had.

No amount of chakra balancing, tapping, creative visualization or Law of Attraction will help you achieve your goals until you make the required changes in your subconscious mind.

Instead of using the past as a barometer for your future success, just let it go!

Otherwise, you’ll simply paralyze yourself into inaction.

I learned a long time back that the only way to keep moving forward and that too in a constructive manner was to accept that the past is gone and the need to focus on the present which is one’s reality and from where we are building our future.

Clinging to the past with all the residual emotions of hurt, pain and negativity only prevent us from moving forward towards our soul’s life purpose.

It is necessary to fill one’s mind with positive thoughts and consciousness to attract all the good things that the Universe can send our way by using the Law of Attraction to create a better future.

The only real purpose of thinking of the past is to take away lessons learned so we won’t repeat them again.

I learnt that just as I have control over my actions, I also have control to take steps to remove any hidden negative traits within me.

Removing hidden Negative Traits

We often acquire negative traits in the course of our life without even realizing that they are there.

The good news about negative traits, no matter their origin or if they have been acquired over the years, these traits can be removed permanently.

This enables us to move forward with confidence using our positive qualities, traits and gifts by focusing our intent on strengthening them with the support of one’s Higher God-Mind.

We are all born for a purpose in this life even if you have not yet realized that purpose, draw comfort from the fact that the very positive traits in your personality are the key to unlocking the mystery of your personal destiny and lifestyle in this life.

Be assured that your Higher God-Mind will support you whichever mode of effort you take, whether it is through conditioning your subconscious mind, meditation or any other metaphysical means.

Here are 2 techniques that work.

Visualization Meditation

This method involves using an affirmation and repeating it a few times until you can feel it and then entering the state of meditation.

In this example, we will use affirmations and meditation to help us to move away from our negative trait of clinging to the past and moving into a positive future.

Affirmation:

“Through the Power of my God-Mind, I release past negativity and release my mind, God-Directed, into a positive future.”

Next, enter into a state of meditation

In your mind, see yourself where you are sitting or reclining.

In your mind, think of this negative trait of clinging to the past (or any negative traits you possess) as your dark shadow in your body.

Now, see this shadow representing negative traits leaving your body and being replaced with the Spiritual Light of your True God-Self.

Sit quietly for another five minutes in meditation, after you feel that your visualization has had an effect.

My Experience with this exercise

The first time I experimented with the visualization technique during my evening meditation using the affirmation for ‘Clinging to negative past/moving into positive future’, I noted that I felt drowsy after I completed the meditation and dozed off for about 10 minutes. On awakening, I felt refreshed, energetic and lighter.

From experience I know that the visualization had worked as I often experience this effect when I have released negative emotions accumulated during the day through meditation.

The sense of lightness was new and repeated visualizations over the following days brought about a changed perspective when dealing with issues to which I have reacted differently in the past.

Re-label Your Negative Experience

If affirmations combined with meditation are not your cup of tea, then acquiring a new perspective on an experience can help at a deeper personal level by rewiring our brain by breaking the negative feedback loop and think positively.

Here we change the label of the experience to take the negativity out of it and let go of the fear that stops us from moving forward. So for example, take a negative experience and re-label it as a learning experience. Our experiences, whether good or bad do provide us with an opportunity to learn valuable lessons and ensure that our present is better.

No experience is ever wasted but offers much in terms of wisdom and input to prevent us from repeating our mistakes.

Use the metaphysical technique outlined above or the re-labeling exercise to remove the negative energies surrounding that experience.

While you cannot go back into the past and change things, you can re-frame the past, increase your knowledge and experience and sharpen your intuitive skills.

Your present is your place of power and action and by focusing on positive thoughts and consciousness you can fulfill your destiny.

What exercises do you use to let go of the past and move forward with an upbeat attitude? 

Sometimes its a mindset issue that requires consistent action and I have a great resource for you.

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Way back in my childhood, we lived in a housing complex with this wonderful lawn with enough space for all the kids to engage in their favorite activities. So some girls skipped rope or played tag, others, including the boys played badminton or football and we were a happy lot.  However, as the sun set, we would all gather in the middle of the lawn, and start sharing ghost stories.   Whether we believed in ghosts or not did not matter. For that brief period of time, we believed in Ghosts & Ghouls.

The stories were scary but we would all listen with rapt attention. No eye blinks, may I add! Then suddenly someone would point in a direction and shout Bhoot! Bhoot! (Ghost! Ghost!)

We’d all start running, screaming and shouting and that marked the end of our day and everyone would go home, happy, ghost story forgotten and replaced with anticipation of the next day’s session.

Now why would I want to reminisce about something that goes back 4 decades?  Because, I realize that we all have ghost stories. Incidents and events that have happened in the past that we simply cannot let go of and that affect us in the present preventing us from creating the future that we really, really want.  A future that will not happen even with the help of Creative Visualization or using the Principles of the Law of Attraction, until we lay the ghosts of our past to rest.

They say that ghosts get their power to harm us by feeding off our fear. Something similar happens when we refuse to let go of the past and let it affect our opinions, ideas and decisions in the present.  We amplify that fear of making a mistake and thus do not even try to take the right actions.

Osho puts the point that I am trying to convey beautifully in his book, The Great Zen Master Ta Hui (Chapter 10)

“These tenses–past, present and future–are not the tenses of time; they are tenses of the mind. That which is no longer before the mind becomes the past. That which is before the mind is the present. And that which is going to be before the mind is the future. Past is that which is no longer before you. Future is that which is not yet before you. And present is that which is before you and is slipping out of your sight. Soon it will be past…. If you don’t cling to the past…because clinging to the past is absolute stupidity. It is no longer there, so you are crying for spilled milk. What is gone is gone! And don’t cling to the present because that is also going and soon it will be past. Don’t cling to the future–hopes, imaginations, plans for tomorrow–because tomorrow will become today, will become yesterday. Everything is going to become yesterday. Everything is going to go out of your hands. Clinging will simply create misery. You will have to let go.”

Osho The Great Zen Master Ta Hui Chapter 10

So hanging on to the ghosts of our past, won’t get us very far in the present or future. Now I don’t for a minute imply that we should not learn from past mistakes or that we should keep repeating them in the present. What I do endorse is learning from the past and carrying those lessons into the present so that our future is the one we desire.

What I do suggest is to confront the past in your mind, analyze what went wrong and why, take out a key lesson or take away from that experience and then let it go.

Your Present too shall soon be your past, so why cling to that which is no longer there?

Just as when we were children we would run screaming our lungs out, enjoying every minute of it, when we heard the word Bhoot and then forgetting about it, let go of your ghost.  We kids looked forward to the next day for more fun after school and homework. Look forward to tomorrow – Life begins afresh!

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Written By: Vatsala Shukla