The ability to fully release the past is a true superpower, one within the grasp of all. Who we were yesterday need bear no relevance to our future… unless we choose to drag chains of the dead past into the limitless possibilities of the future.
I have an affirmation that I love to remind me of the power of my choices: New Day, New Decisions, New Nathan. Recognizing the impact of the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, I recently added to it: New Day, New Narrative, New Decisions, New Nathan. The phrase ‘New Narrative” refers to the power of self-concept and belief systems. It reflects the fact that we only attempt what we think we are capable of; that we tend to take the limits of our vision for the limits of the world (A. Schopenhauer). By choosing new stories, I open up new possibilities.
One of my favorite visualizations about releasing the past is to see myself rock climbing with a very heavy backpack. All of a sudden, the realization dawns on me that it is full of weighty rocks, the dead past I’ve been accumulating and keeping without full awareness of doing so. I immediately shrug off the pack and instantly feel joyously lighter, freer.
Closing Quotes:
“You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.” – Proverb
“You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present.” – Jan Glidewell, 1944-2013
“The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence; the past is a place of learning, not a place of living.” – Roy T. Bennett, 1939-2014
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier