Is the Past Destroying the Now?
Wednesday September 7, 2010
Holy cow! It is after Labor Day already! Where did the summer go? Do you still want to go back to some of your summer fun activities & stay there forever?
How about years prior to that? Do you continue to live by things that happened to you in your past? Are you letting things long gone & done hold you back or are they feeding that fear of failure OR fear of success?
Don't you want to move into these fall/winter months that may & most likely will fill up with stresses of back to school craziness for parents, holiday craziness as we all know and more with a release of the past things that hold you back?
Hey, I am not saying it is easy!!! I am the first to admit that past experiences still hold me back.
I was listening to a show a while back & wrote down this thought process from it.. I can't even remember what prompted this as the "thought" has been hanging on my "to write about list" for a while now. It was this:
Is living in the past destroying the present and the future? Can we take power from within to overcome this?
And by this statement, I mean the things in the past that are "bad" in your eyes. I am not talking about the wonderful memories that, well, for me, I tend to keep going back to & wanting to hibernate right in that memory.
So, are the bad things that have happened previously holding you back from the now, from your dreams, goals and just living life?
Is living in the past destroying the present and the future? Can we take power from within to overcome this? What are the lessons learned?
I know for a fact that I learned from my fitness, health & wellness mistakes previously & I continue to learn each & every day! - A WORK IN PROGRESS ALWAYS!
Please share your thoughts with all of us & any things you have done to overcome the bad in the past. I know some people say that they would not be in the place they are now without the learning of the past... I get that too & please share!
Holy cow! It is after Labor Day already! Where did the summer go? Do you still want to go back to some of your summer fun activities & stay there forever?
How about years prior to that? Do you continue to live by things that happened to you in your past? Are you letting things long gone & done hold you back or are they feeding that fear of failure OR fear of success?
Don't you want to move into these fall/winter months that may & most likely will fill up with stresses of back to school craziness for parents, holiday craziness as we all know and more with a release of the past things that hold you back?
Hey, I am not saying it is easy!!! I am the first to admit that past experiences still hold me back.
I was listening to a show a while back & wrote down this thought process from it.. I can't even remember what prompted this as the "thought" has been hanging on my "to write about list" for a while now. It was this:
Is living in the past destroying the present and the future? Can we take power from within to overcome this?
And by this statement, I mean the things in the past that are "bad" in your eyes. I am not talking about the wonderful memories that, well, for me, I tend to keep going back to & wanting to hibernate right in that memory.
So, are the bad things that have happened previously holding you back from the now, from your dreams, goals and just living life?
Is living in the past destroying the present and the future? Can we take power from within to overcome this? What are the lessons learned?
I know for a fact that I learned from my fitness, health & wellness mistakes previously & I continue to learn each & every day! - A WORK IN PROGRESS ALWAYS!
Please share your thoughts with all of us & any things you have done to overcome the bad in the past. I know some people say that they would not be in the place they are now without the learning of the past... I get that too & please share!
Posted by truth2beingfit at 9/6/2010 9:00 PM 
Categories: Challenges, Motivation/Support, Life Experiences, Happiness, Inspiration
Tags: life experiences challenges choices inspiration acceptance overcoming the past fear
Categories: Challenges, Motivation/Support, Life Experiences, Happiness, Inspiration
Tags: life experiences challenges choices inspiration acceptance overcoming the past fear
The future is a direct and absolute product of the past -- they are woven.
Yes, there is much in my past that I regret, that I wish did not happen, that was forced upon me, but I would not be the me that I am without those instances.
The past is so much a part of my future, that my future would incomplete without my past. I accept them both.
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Roy, so many feel the same way & I agree... just some, the past keeps getting in the way of now which then effects the future, meaning better things that we could accomplish if we did not let the past things hold us back.... that is the lesson for many of us....
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Im not much help here in that I do simply BELIEVE that without my yesterday I could not handle my today.
and that my today and the sum of my yesterdays prepares me for tomorrow.
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Carla, I knew many felt this way so that is why I made that last statement & especially you as you have written about your "experiences" with discrimination & how it changed you. I think that is great. Many feel the same way!
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Great post Jody! As you well know that is what I deal with constantly! I agree with Roy that things are interwoven and with MIZ what strikes me the most is the SIMPLY believe...belief is the journey we are all on.. You have to take action for YOURSELF before you can simply believe....
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Jules, you always make some great points & ones to think about further!
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Fortunately, I don't think I let my past impact me much. Maybe because there are no major regrets. Although I will admit that some days I let the recent past get to me. Things done or said or whatever.
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Karen, you are lucky in that the further past does not impact your decisions.. me, still do to some extent. We all have our days too!
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Jody, I like how you said "Are you letting things long gone & done hold you back or are they feeding that fear of failure OR fear of success?" Isn't it odd how the fear of success can paralyze us just as much as the fear of failure? I read it over and over in other's blogs -- how nervous people seem to get when they start approaching their goal because they don't know who they will then be. I feel it myself. First, I was afraid to set goals because I feared I would fail. Now that I'm succeeding, I'm often uneasy about what I'll look like or how people will react to me when I've finally reached some yet unknown target weight.
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Marsial, I read over & over on the blogs & when I talk to people.. afraid of the fear of not losing the weight or not living up to others expectations & then as they get closer, fear of success for the reasons you made & more....... so much has to work right in the mind as well as our actions.
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Is living in the past destroying the present and the future?
It certainly can. What comes to mind for me here is not keeping up with the changing times. Some choose to stay firm and stand fast with how they do things. I have seen this in the work place and it absolutely destroys careers. I have stories back twenty years to present day from people who refused to accept new changes like computers and the use of email and within a year or two they met the unfortunate, but avoidable, fate of being expendable because they would not accept the changes in the work place. More recent day example would be a friend who refused to accept the early warning signs that his profession was a dying one. Instead of expanding his secondary skills for a new professional track he stubbornly waited & met the fate of job elimination and has never recovered to this day.
Can we correlate this to healthy living, absolutely we can. Myself, I chose for years to believe that my youthful abilities would not fade as years rolled onward. Even when becoming overweight and blossoming into obesity I chose to believe that my way of living was not going to be a problem because I was young at heart. Well, the heart, mind and all they control ages. And treating my body like a twenty-something when I am a forty-something was destroying what abilities I had left at a quickening pace.
We have to keep our minds focused on the here & now and ahead to the future. That doesn't mean we have to forget the past, never forget I say. But never stop and just live in a moment in time for all time to come.
Can we take power from within to overcome this?
Some of us can, some need help. Really, I think we all need some help. But the core of the energy, the desire; that comes from within us. We have to make the decisions to take the actions we need to take in present day to succeed. We can draw on many others for the inspiration and guidance needed to ignite ourselves, but the power that gets it done; that is inside us.
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Patrick.. what a detailed & thought provoking response to the post! Thank you so much for taking time to write all that & share with us!!!! Give us more to think about!
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I think I remember reading that Ayn Rand expressed a similar concept when she wrote, "The future is a cloud that showdowns the pleasures of the present and intensifies the miseries of the past."
Be vigilant and be pro-active.
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Dr. J... had not heard that quote but I am sure many of us can relate! Yes, your advice is good advice!
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SHADOWS!! Darn out of control spell checker
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I'm not even sure what to say about this mind blowing post! The past..hmmmmm...I do believe everyday is a lesson some learn by the lesson and some ignore the lesson....
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Sian, it is all about the lesson for sure! It is different for all of us.
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The past really can mess with our ability to be our best self. Too often it is the negative voices from our past that get in our way.
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Karen, this :Too often it is the negative voices from our past that get in our way. Yes, that is the prob!!!
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Most of my regrets are for things I've done to other people and not to myself. Even so, all of it contributes to who I am today (a me I really, really like a lot.
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Such an important point Cammy! I hear ya!
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