Forget The Past And Live The Present

Forget the past and live the present

Our life is made up of different experiences and situations collected over the years. These experiences can be a vital learning experience or a pleasant memory, however, our experiences can become part of a painful past. This past can involve the memory of a bump in our life, an event where we were hurt or a mistake we made and for which we are not able to forgive ourselves. Although we must accept our past events, it is not advisable to stay stuck in them. In order to move forward with our lives, be happy and leave bad memories behind, it is essential Forget the past and live the present.

The here and now is full of opportunities that we cannot leave behind because we are anchored to a painful past. If you want to obtain the best tools to leave the past behind, we recommend you continue reading this PsychologyFor article.

Can you forget the past?

Sometimes we may feel that many memories will haunt us throughout our lives, that we cannot get rid of them and that they will be a continuous burden. It is important to know that this is not true. We cannot forget the past completely, however, We can prevent those memories from continuing to impact our daily lives.

Fighting so that our memories do not torture us is not an easy task, for move on and stop thinking about the painful past you have to get over it. To do this, we will have to do an exercise that involves accepting experiences without judging them. Not only that, we will also have to learn to forgive those who we consider have hurt us and stop being resentful.

We can also express our feelings to another trusted person, who can give us a new point of view on the situation and, perhaps, help us take a better perspective on the matter.

Forget the past and live in the present - Can you forget the past?

How to forget the past and be happy

In order to forget the past and live in the present, you will have to follow certain steps and learn new coping strategies:

  1. Hold the memory: Repressing experienced events is not a good strategy. In this way, we only block the feelings that said memory generates in us and, if we do not manage them correctly, those bad feelings will remain in our unconscious. The first step to forgetting the past is, strange as it may seem, to remember it.
  2. It is important not judge what happened Labeling a memory “bad” will cause us to modify it and see it even worse than it really was. To leave it behind, we will have to hold it, appreciate it, remember it and not judge it.
  3. Forgive ourselves and those involved in bad memories: once we have calmly analyzed the past and seen that, really, there is nothing that should keep us up at night, we will have to do the exercise of forgiveness. This exercise is based on leaving behind hatred towards what happened in the past, stopping carrying the responsibility for what was experienced or, on the contrary, stopping burdening others with said memory. If what we really want is to be happy, guilt is a useless burden.
  4. Once the past is overcome, it is time to move on Focusing our perspective on personal growth and caring for our loved ones is a very important step to start living in the present.
  5. Enjoy good experiences: Once we have learned to live in the present, it will be easy for us to focus on positive emotions. This exercise will help us form a system of optimistic beliefs and ideas and will provide us with better coping strategies for new life setbacks.

Learning to apply all these strategies on a daily basis is a very important step on our path to happiness. Learning to leave the past behind implies maturity, the ability to overcome, and good resilience strategies.

Forget the painful past

The past can be a bad experience in our lives, something that we do not want to experience again but that, however, we cannot stop remembering. The more painful the past is, the more complicated it is to deal with These experiences can leave a huge scar that moderates our temperament and changes the way we relate to others. If memories constantly haunt us and we cannot do anything to leave them behind, it is advisable go to a specialist psychologist to provide us with tools and coping strategies.

However, it is important to mention that each person has their own personal growth process, Each individual learns to leave the past behind at his or her own pace and in his own way. It is also not necessary to beat ourselves up for not being able to forget the painful past if it is not generating great traumas in our daily lives. We must take our time and develop improvement strategies at our own pace.

Forget the past and live in the present - Forget the painful past

Learn to live in the present

Once we have managed to leave the past behind, it is time to learn to live life under the focus of the present. Since we are no longer anchored to past facts or events, we can focus on what concerns us in the here and now. We can set small short-term goals to see how we are able to overcome them. This new lifestyle can lead to high self-esteem and the learning of resilience strategies.

The future is uncertain and the past is something we cannot change Once we accept these facts, we can make our lives based on them, living in the present, enjoying the opportunities that life offers us and overcoming the challenges that it proposes to us. Not everything will be easy, however, we can always learn from bad experiences.

10 phrases to leave the past behind and be happy

  1. By giving freedom to others, which is letting go, we regain our freedom. – Aleksandra Ninkovic
  2. Everything happens for a reason. -Bob Marley
  3. Keep what you have, forget what hurts you, fight for what you want, value what you have, forgive those who hurt you and enjoy those who love you.- Bob Marley
  4. It is useless to return to what has been and is no longer. – Frederic Chopin
  5. The art of living involves knowing when to hold on and when to let go. -Havelock Ellis
  6. Nothing is lost if you have the courage to proclaim that everything is lost and you have to start again. – Julio Cortazar
  7. The pain will leave you when you let go. -Jeremy Aldana
  8. It is necessary to dream, but with the condition of believing in our dreams. To carefully examine real life, to confront our observation with our dreams, and to scrupulously realize our fantasy. -Lenin
  9. I realized that there is something incredibly honest about trees in winter; how they are experts at letting things go. -Jeffrey McDaniel
  10. When I let go of what I am, I become what I could be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need. – Lao Tzu

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Forget the past and live the present we recommend that you enter our Personal Growth and Self-Help category.

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