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I was recently listening to Eckhard Tolle’s  A New Earth  and something hit me like a ton of bricks.  When I  grasped the full significance of it I felt like a mountain had been lifted off my shoulders. It was a story about 2 monks who were traveling through a muddy road and saw a lady in a white gown who could not pass as it would have ruined her gown.  One of the monks bent over and allowed her to get on his back at which time he proceeded to then carry her across the muddy road. 5 hours later when the monks had arrived at their destination the other monks said:  “why did you carry that woman on your back, you know us monks are not supposed to do stuff like that?” The other monks simply replied: “it’s been 5 hours, are you still carrying her on your back.”

..This statement had reminded me how I had been carrying some baggage of my own from the past…  people who I felt had wronged me, career failures, etc. but the minute I heard this story a different level of awareness was created, which allowed me to drop some of the old baggage I was hanging onto.

 So what are you hanging onto that slowly killing you?

We all have demons from the past and we all carry some level of luggage which drags us down physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But if it is so toxic and damaging why do we hang onto?

New science of the brain shows that we create chemicals and memory associations that  make us feel dependent and addicted to suffering and pain.   Not only is it physical, but when we look  at history, mankind has had a violent past with plenty of murder, war, abuse, pain and suffering, which has been woven into our very DNA.

As they say “what you focus on is what you become.” So the solution more than likely lies in refocusing our attention on abundance, on healing, on creating and giving love.  Focusing on stories that bring our attention to errors we might be making ourselves also create a great level of awareness which allow us to let go of our pain, suffering and past baggage.

 How can you like over the past?

 Forgiveness –  the 1st thing I’ve realized about people who have wronged me in the past is that 99% of the time it’s not about me it’s actually about their own insecurities, fears and lack of love in their own life. Once I recognize this I can then forgive them and drop them off my back like the monk dropped the lady after he carried her through the mud. It is at this time that I have new found compassion and can actually pray for their happiness.

 Refocus –  immediately when I find myself in a conversation in my head that’s anything negative whatsoever, I refocus my attention to capture something in the environment that is happening at the present moment. This could be a tree, a picture on the wall, a song on the radio or anything that takes my mind off the past and the future. I then asked myself the question famously written by Dan Millman in the  Peaceful  Warrior:

What Time Is It?   And…     Where Are You?       The time is now and I am here!

 

Please feel free to leave comments or other solutions to letting go of the past. Lots of love, Chad