The way you describe your life and portray yourself is directly related to how you live your life on a day-to-day basis.
Every moment of the day you are deciding how to live your life. Maybe you’re not deciding this consciously, but you’re still deciding it in the way that you respond to your life circumstances. Can you think of a new possibility for yourself? Or something you can do right now in this present moment to move your life forward in a positive way? Maybe it’s to follow through on something you said you wanted to do—like eat better, go to the gym, but it can also be to pray, to call a friend you’ve been meaning to call, to take a deep breath, or to take a walk to clear your mind.
Participating fully in the present moment is going to help you create a meaningful life. So if you’re holding on to a painful past, and if you find it difficult to let it go, what’s important is to know that your past does not define you unless you allow it to. So if your past has been difficult and it feels really hard to get over something, the question becomes: How do you get beyond your past? And the answer sounds easy, but it can be tough, YET it always works: You can get beyond your past by challenging the conclusions you’ve drawn about it.
So I’d like you to ask yourself, especially if you’re stuck in a difficult situation, to challenge your conclusions. You see, what keeps you stuck the most might be just wanting to know why something happened the way it did. And unfortunately, you may never know why a certain thing happened. Instead, remember that you did learn something valuable, and no matter how difficult, you learned and are now wiser.
You know, we are all interpreting out of our own judgments and our own filter. Things are not always as they appear to be. So it’s helpful to lift yourself above your current set of circumstances, look down on your situation, and decide to move on.
…And what about forgiveness? You see, not forgiving a person can cause you tremendous emotional discomfort and heartache. You might find yourself upset with someone–maybe you feel betrayed–and you rehash repeatedly what happened–even if it happened last year, trying to make sense of something that makes no sense. By continuing to expend your energy in this way, you lose your life force and this impacts your spirit. Often you are unable to enjoy or participate in the present moment that you have that is actually okay now.
So choose to forgive others if you want to move forward. Plain and simple, you wish them well. And you decide you learned a lot from the experience. After all, we came in to learn. And then you move on with love and compassion as your traveling partners. Oh, and, of course, forgive yourself!
So don’t adopt or live out a life role that is contrary to what you want your life to be. Remember that you are the author of your own story. You didn’t come in to try out for a part in someone else’s drama as your main role, and you can revise your story at any time.
Above all, remember: You are what you believe you are. So believe in something good!