Learning to let go
By Liggy Webb
One of the most powerful behaviours of resilient people is their ability to let go of the past and lose some of the baggage that can invariably be collected and carried along the way.
The issue with carrying baggage is that you can end up reliving and rehashing all your nightmares and trapping yourself in a paralysing loop of negativity. Making a conscious decision to let go and free yourself is key. Many people talk about burying the past – however, the danger here is that, if you bury it, you will just go back and dig it up! Without freedom from the past there really is no freedom to embrace the future. Here are a few tips to help you to be able to let go:
Letting Go of Your Baggage
ð Ask yourself a very fundamental question. How am I benefitting from reliving my negative past? Once you clearly understand that it doesn’t serve you in any way it will help you to detach yourself from it. Learn the lesson and move on.
ð Paul McGee wrote a fantastic book called SUMO – Shut Up and Move On. This is a great bit of advice if you are anything like me and have the propensity to over-analyze. Let’s face it: kicking the past around is not only exhausting; it can also be really boring!
ð Write a letter to yourself about the negative experience and then destroy it and make a conscious decision to let the experience in your mind go at the same time.
ð Start working on new memories. If you focus your mind on the present and start to create dreams for the future, this will help to take your mind off the past.
ð Under no circumstances “should on yourself” If you hear yourself saying “should have”, “would have” or “could have” all you will do is make yourself feel disappointed and regretful. So you didn’t – so what? You can now, if you really want to!
No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again
Buddha