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The Past Can Hurt and Heal

Arrow - Move Forward

Photo Courtesy of Antony Mayfield.

It is true.  The past can hurt quite a bit.  The one thing to realize, and it may take some searching, is the hurt served you in some way.  Maybe it got you out of a bad relationship, an addiction, or caused you to start the career path that you are on.

If you find out how your past served you it can also help you heal the emotional pain.

If you did something to harm another reach out to them to to try and attempt to make it better.  Even if the person doesn’t accept you need to know that you tried.  This can free you in so many ways and help ensure that you don’t make the same mistakes again.

Learn from your past but look forward to your future.  Living in the past serves no productive purpose.  Using it to learn from can be your greatest gift.

“The past can hurt, but you can either run from it or learn from it.”  Rafiki – The Lion King

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Forgive Them For You

Forgivness

Photo Courtesy of Appu Shaji

Everyone has been mad, upset, or in deep emotional turmoil in the past due to someone’s actions or words.  Were you able to forgive them?  I hope so. Forgiving someone is for you; not for them. It is your ability to let go of the situation. Never ask if they deserve to be forgiven; ask if you deserve to forgive them.

Holding onto hate or rage when someone has done something against you does not hurt the other person.  Many times we hide these emotions because we don’t want to hurt them in return.  However, you need to release them for your own sake.  Why allow them to live in your mind and let you pay the emotional rent?

Take out a notebook or journal and for five minutes write about a hurt that you have been holding onto.  Describe the feelings in detail and get them all out on paper as if you were speaking to the person who hurt you directly.  At the end write “now I forgive you” and let it go.  I am not asking you to forgive and forget but  I am asking you to get that baggage off of you.

Letting these things go allows you to move past the situation and at the same time lowers your stress level.  Do yourself a favor and let it go.