Day 48 Letting Go Part 2 Letting Go of the Past

Our pasts often become our friends. They cling to us and we cling to them. We often relive our pasts over and over again.

Our pasts know what we went through and how we were damaged. They were there with us in our pain or betrayal or rejection or fear. We don’t need to explain to them. They know us. So our pasts in many ways become a little like a comfort blanket that we cling to when we need to feel comforted. They reassure us. They make us feel better for a while.

However, over the years we become tired of living in our pasts. We want to let them go and move on. However, that means saying goodbye to our comfort blanket and that is often very hard to do.

Our past tells us that they are the only ones who understand who wronged us or let us down or hurt us. If we let go of them, the injustices done to us will be forgotten and they urge us not to forget how others have wounded us or let us down.The past is in the past, yet the past is affecting both our present and also our future. The only way to live different todays and tomorrows is to let go of our yesterdays.

Firstly, we need to thank them for all they brought us, recognising that we would not be who we are today without them. So begin by acknowledging all the good that your comfort blanket has brought you. However, then tell it that you are now heading off on holiday to a new place and you can only take so much in your suitcase. Sadly, the clothes of the past which once fitted are ones you no longer want to wear in this new place as they have become old, faded, torn and no longer bring out the best in you. Instead, you have decided to only pack clothes which you feel relaxed and confident in. Tell them that you will not meet again and you wish them well. And then be determined to do all you have spoken of.

They of course will tell you that you can’t move on without them but that is an untruth. They want to keep hold of you in the past, but the past is dead and gone. However often you go back and try and resuscitate it, it is dead. You cannot rewrite history. You can’t change the past. The kindest thing you can do is to bury it deep within the ground, cover it over and walk away. Don’t ever be tempted to go back and dig it back up. Let it rest in peace.

Although at first you will be able to see the mound of earth on top of this grave, as the years progress, you will hardly be able to make it out.

Let go of your pasts for they are dead and cannot bring life into your future. Let them go and move on.

Which parts of your past do you find hardest to let go of?

Why do you hold onto these memories? How does holding onto them help you?

When you feel ready, follow the stages listed to say goodbye to the past, ie thanks, acknowledgement, letting go , symbolically burying it in the ground.

Doing things symbolically can be very freeing and powerful. When ready, take an inanimate object which in some way symbolises what you are choosing to bury. Dig a hole for it, bury it, cover it over, say goodbye and walk away and do not look bac. Record how the experience made you feel.