We recently enjoyed a lovely little family holiday. The first in a long time. And with the seaside, picnics and adventures came a lot of country driving, more than we have done in years.
At one point the inevitable happened and my husband found himself stuck behind a tractor, who was stuck behind a cyclist on a county lane. For miles he was trying to search for a way to over take. Eventually the tractor took a turn away from our route and he was free. Then about ten minutes later he found a nice straight stretch of road. “I could have done with this a while ago.”
Then it struck me he was still stuck behind the tractor. It got me thinking about how easy it is to get stuck in our past lives. To hold on to the damage or difficult times even when they are long since past.
It is so hard to let go at times. This is a skill I am still mastering but with a lot of baggage I have managed to put most of it down. To leave it where it belongs behind me. Here are some ways we can all free ourselves from the past.
Acknowledge you can not change it.
The past is fixed the future is fluid. Accept you can not change what has been. Focus on what you can.
Remind yourself you have moved forward.
Whether you noticed or not, the world has changed around you and so have you.
Forgive.
You can see my previous blog on forgiveness. Forgiveness is more for you than the truck driver. The truck driver does not care you were stuck behind him, forgiving let’s go of your anger and resentment, so you can move forward.
Widen your perspective.
When we are caught up in the past our thinking is often very narrow. It is about something that happened to us and how we felt. We rarely think about what was going on around us at the time or what other people might have been dealing with.
Keep yourself busy.
Being busy if a form of mindfulness for me. When I am busy I am focused on the now. I have no choice but leave the past where it belongs.
Fight 4 Happiness 
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