Where do you live your life? Are you a past, present, or future person? When you consider the options, we do best being in the now.
Living in the past puts a great deal of weight on our shoulders. We carry a lot of baggage that comes from our life experiences and the people who influenced us. We’ve held on to burdensome emotions to one degree or another, or we’ve buried those we could not handle. Either way, they influence our lives. Time to let them go. When we experience a negative emotional reaction, there should be a bell going off in our minds and the question “why?”. When a negative emotion comes to the surface, that’s a matter we need to look at. Negativity blocks the energy flow in the body, causing dis-ease on the physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual planes. When we’ve learned anger from a parent, it isn’t necessary to continue with that anger. The emotions of anger, depression, sadness, fear, and jealousy come out of situations that can present us with life-changing lessons. Uncontrollable rage is detrimental to everyone around us, as well as ourselves. It can present us with a lesson on how to express oneself without causing severe emotional harm. Understanding the damage that occurs from this emotion can help us to change. However, if change is difficult for us, we may resist learning the lesson the first few times around. In that case, the Universe will continue to give us other opportunities. Coming to some understanding of the reaction and its impact helps to uncover the lesson to be learned. Anger, fear, and all the other negative emotions can be changed and conquered.
Consider the following hypothetical example: When “Jane” was a little girl, the only way she could get positive attention was to go out of her way to help others in her family, even when it was not reasonable. If she didn’t, she was chastised for being lazy and selfish. This pattern continues into her present life. “Jane” feels depressed because her efforts are often not appreciated or reciprocated. The pattern will continue until “Jane” becomes conscious of her own needs and what is appropriate for her. When “Jane” realizes how important it is to stand up for herself, her present understanding will help her to put change in place. When she can recognize that, as an adult, she is not in the same situation as she was as a child, she will be able to let go of her need to please everyone, and take care of herself first. Letting go of the “shoulds” and “oughts” we learned from family, school, and society can be liberating. However, it is important to choose and eliminate those that do us the most harm and keep reexamining the rest. The more we can let go of the burdens of the past, the more balanced we will be in the present.
Likewise, living our lives in the future can be weighty. The predominant emotions that arise are usually fear and worry. Two common situations come to mind: 1) fear of what will happen, and worry about what to do about it; and 2) fear that we’re not measuring up, and worry that we won’t fit in. Of course, there are many other possibilities, so ask yourself: Will that fear and worry, of whatever, create happiness and balance for you? Most likely not, so why do it? Because deep down inside, humans have a need to be in control. In reality, we are not, particularly in the future. There are too many variables possible to have everything work out exactly the way we’d like all the time. Having a reasonable plan for our lives and setting high goals can keep us vibrant, but being attached to plan A with no other alternatives can lead us down a dead end street. Make sure to have a plan B, or C, or D,… and roll with the punches. You’ll find there will actually be fewer punches coming your way.
Since living in the past will not lead us to happiness, and living in the future will not guarantee it either, we must recognize and accept that the control we desire is available to us only in the present. Now is the time to conquer fear, anger, sadness, guilt, jealousy, and any other negative feeling that comes up. Right now is reality, not what happened before or what will happen. The past cannot be changed and we will never be in the future. All we have is the present. It is here we live our lives. Make the most of it now.
If you are interested in extracting yourself from the past or future, Reiki can be a potent tool to help you live your life to the fullest, now. Are you ready?
