As a progressive Christian, I believe there are many names for God and many ways to a loving God; this article reflects one of those ways. Take from here what works for you. Celebrate life with joy and peace!
Since we’ve started this series of living Your Best Life Now based on the book by Rev. Joel Osteen, we’ve talked about enlarging our vision of compassion, seeing ourselves as God sees us, discovering the power of our thoughts and words, and this article, let’s look at the importance of letting go of the past.
I’m not talking about all of the past – I have so many happy memories of so many friends and loved ones. Great trips and experiences. Romantic times and belly laughs. I cherish those memories – I’m not talking about letting go of those memories, I’m talking about letting go of the painful hurts of the past.
We’ve all had negative things happen to us. We can easily find reasons to have a chip on our shoulder, or blame the past for our bad attitude, poor choices or even anger today.
Most of the time we have valid reasons for feeling the way we do. You may have gone through things that nobody deserves to experience. Perhaps you were physically, verbally, sexually or emotionally abused. Maybe you’ve struggled with a chronic illness or some other inoperable physical problem. Perhaps somebody took advantage of you in business and you lost your life savings as well as your self-esteem.
I don’t mean to minimize those experiences at all. They are real. However, if you want to live your best life now, you cannot use past emotional wounds as an excuse for making poor choices today. Now is the time to allow emotional wounds to heal.
Nobody, not even God, ever promised that life would be fair.
Instead, of living in the hurts of the past, take what God has given you and make the most of it. You may have suffered much, endured great hardships or been though a lot of negative things. You may have deep scars from emotional wounds, but don’t let your past determine your future.
You can’t do anything about what’s already happened to you, but you can choose how you will face what’s in front of you. If you hold on to feelings of bitterness and resentment, they could poison your future. As hard as it is to do, let go of those hurts and pains. Forgive the people who did you wrong. Forgive yourself for the mistakes you’ve made.
You may even need to forgive God. Perhaps you’ve been blaming God for taking your loved ones. Maybe you’re angry at God because your prayers weren’t answered, or some situation didn’t work out the way you had hoped.
Whatever it is, you will never be truly happy as long as you harbor bitterness and unforgiveness in your heart. It’s so important to let go of those negative attitudes and anger. Change the channel and start focusing on the goodness of God.
How many of you are channel flippers – if we see something we don’t like, no big deal – we just change channels. We need to learn how to mentally change channels when negative images of the past pop up in our minds.
Unfortunately, when some people see those negative experiences on their minds’ “screens,” instead of quickly changing channels, they pull up a chair, and get some popcorn, as though they’re going to watch a good movie! They willingly allow themselves to relive all of those hurts and pains. And then they wonder why they are depressed, upset or discouraged.
Learn now to change the channel on negativity; be a channel flipper for positivity. If you’ve had something painful happen to you, don’t let that negative experience define your life. We have to let go of the painful past to bring in the new.
If you’re serious about being well, if you really want to be made whole, don’t stay in your negative situation, get up and move on with your life. Stop making excuses, stop blaming others. Instead, start forgiving the people that hurt you.
Today can be a turning point in your life, a time of new beginnings. Why not begin living your best life now?
