It is said that those who don’t learn from their past are doomed to repeat it. Although I agree with this statement, I add to it, those who continually relive the past in their mind are doomed to have more experiences like this in the future.
Your Past
As I have been learning more and more about my mind and how to control it, I have come to the realization that one of the worst habits I had was reliving my past in my mind. I would constantly rewind parts of my life and relive them over and over again. I found that especially if they didn’t turn out the way I wanted, I would think about what I would have done differently to try and get a different outcome. Even worse are the times that I did something that I really regretted. I would think about them, dwell on them and think about how I wished that I could take them back or redo them the way that I would not have regretted.
You Can’t Change the Past
At one point I realized that the phrase, “you can’t change the past”, has more application into my daily life than just a neat catch phrase. The truth of the statement doesn’t change, you really can’t go back in time and make a change, or at least not yet. Once a time machine is invented, maybe that will change, but for right now we have to live with what has been done in the past. So, if I can’t change the past, where should I focus my thinking?
Now and in the Future
NOW! and in the FUTURE! these are the times that I can effect. I can change what I am thinking, doing, … right now. I can plan and make plans for things that I will do in the future. What a wonderful and powerful piece of information. The real challenge is how do you apply this piece of information into your everyday life? By staying out of the past!
Constantly Thinking
Your mind is working non-stop. It wants to be thinking about something all the time. Have you ever tried to NOT think? Try it right now. Stop reading and see if you can totally clear your mind and think about absolutely nothing? Were you able to do it? If yes, for how long? My bet is that it you were able to stop thinking, it didn’t last for long. Your mind’s job is to think and you think without having to even try. So, if you think constantly, what do you think about?
Getting Out of the Past
My observation is that my mind loves the past. The past if familiar, I have already lived it. My mind understands, knows what it feels like and can relive any event with feelings and perfect clarity of what the event was like. When I think about future activities, my mind doesn’t like it. My mind doesn’t know anything about what will happen next or in the future, so it quickly tries to change the topic and change to something it knows … the past. This has to change.
Creating the Future
To reverse my Type 2 Diabetes, I had to think about the future. I had to create feelings, thoughts, experiences of the future without my Diabetes. The process of getting out of the past, was crucial to reversing my Diabetes. Rather than focusing on what I had done or wanted to change what I had done in the past that made me a Diabetic, I had to focus on what I was going to do right now and in the future to not be a Diabetic. I had to be aware of my thoughts and change the topic of conversation when I was reliving the past. I had to change my thoughts to the present, or to the future and most importantly I had to create the feelings of what life would be like when I got there. Then as my mind changed to the now and future, my thoughts changed my Diabetes and eventually I reversed it.
What future do you want to create? Write it down and share it with us in the comments below. I want to know. Put as much feeling into it as you can. How will you feel when you get to that point? Don’t focus on where you have been, only focus on where you want to go and let your thoughts take you there.
