Have you ever felt like your life was on an endless cycle? Like you were stuck on a loop and just couldn’t figure out how to successfully turn the page in your life? Have you ever felt like you just couldn’t let go of the past? In this post, we will explore four action items to help you let go of the past and live in the present.

Living in the past comes with a whole lot of consequences. Take it from certified health coach Karen Ann Kennedy:

“Living in the past is a problem because it robs you of the opportunity to enjoy the present.”

Among the many challenges compounded by one’s decision to live in the past is the barrier to balanced decision making for your present and for your future. Today, let’s look at four action items you can employ to let go of the past and live in the present.

Give Yourself Grace

Have you ever said something mean or belittling to or about yourself? Have you ever been mad at yourself for doing something wrong, or underperforming? Sometimes, if we’re not careful, we hold ourselves back through negative self-talk and other behaviours that convince us of our insufficiency or our ineptitude. 

Give yourself grace.

Maybe you woke up late this morning because your body needed some extra rest. Give yourself grace. Maybe you spent a little more than you had planned for this month, and now you will have to restructure your finances in order to meet your goals this season. Give yourself grace. Maybe you said something unnecessarily harsh about someone else, or passed judgement a little too quickly instead of working to understand the situation better. Give yourself grace. 

Everyday we are presented with new opportunities to learn, grow and improve as individuals. In order for that to happen, we have to uproot the behaviours that tell us we are unworthy of that growth or that progress, and we must provide ourselves a safe space to bloom.

Choose to Be Present

All your feelings are valid. They all have context and purpose because they all come from something, someone or somewhere. Your feelings are legitimate, but they are not good leaders. As a sentient being with the power to make up your own mind, it is your responsibility to manage your emotions and decide what you will believe and do in each moment of life. If it sounds like a lot, well… that’s because it is.

Choosing to be present puts the power back in your hands. When we choose to avoid conflict, difficult situations and big decisions, we deceive ourselves and give into delusions of inferiority where we play the role of someone who is incapable of rising above their life’s problems. When we decide to be present, we are able to balance the reality of what is happening with our desire and our ability to create change.

Feel your feelings. Communicate your experiences. Build understanding and progress towards your dreams through mindfulness and intention.

Choose to Build Positivity

Research has found that on average it takes five positive experiences to counteract one negative experience. That seems like a really challenging statistic in the face of what would seem to be a non-stop barrage of negativity in the world today. Fortunately, we have the power to build experiences of positivity.

The key to succeeding in this area is to build positivity without fear or worry of experiencing negativity. Don’t wait until something bad happens to try and turn it around while you’re feeling down. Start building positivity in your work, your education, your finances and your relationships now. And whatever you do, keep going. Never stop building positivity while you are able. 

Hold Yourself Accountable

Grace means nothing without accountability. The universe, as we understand it, operates on cause and effect. That means there are consequences for the choices you make, the words you say and the actions you take. Get clear about your values and your objectives in life, and hold yourself accountable to making them happen.

Hopefully with this post you are inspired to take action and be present more in life! After all…

Why sink when you can SWIM?