Keeping the Past Alive Means Living A Lie: Stop Living in the Past

There are so many painful stories in the comments of my favourite news channel HuffPost Living  that boggle my mind and they make my own seem puny in comparison. All for the good too - it is a very humbling experience.

In this vein, Anne Naylor's Overcoming Powerlessness and Judith Rich's How to Know the Way of the Soul provide significant pointers to smooth your path by providing a balm to your soul, if you are ready to receive it. Be sure to delve into Huffpost Living at your leisure.

At the same time they also highlight the power, magnificence and resilience of humans beings when we allow ourselves to embody and manifest these intrinsic qualities. Marianne Williamson's Our Deepest Fear says it beautifully.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

When we find ourselves (loved ones included) in emotionally charged situations we allow it to suck us in and then we lose ourselves. The wonderfully inspirational Thich Nhat Hanh's comments provides some powerfully simple meditation techniques for stepping back from the brink, and so do Ed and Deb Shapiro. 

Because I have been there for decades, here's my take on living in the past.

Keeping the past alive

Means keeping the pain alive

And that means living a lie

Why would you want to cry 

More than you already have
Why would you

Continue to punish you

Living in the past is wrong
It's gone

It's impossible

Way too much trouble

Living in that bubble

Always out of sync

Creating a stink

When you come up for air

You smell fear

But no one's there

It's the smell you wear

Keeping the past alive

Is tradition gone wrong

It's swimming with knives

They cut you up constantly

Until the water's bloody
 

That's what living in the past

Says to me

The disrespect you face
In your own place

 Lack of respect for your own face

Means it's a race

Nobody wins

When you live in the past

Everybody's back of the class

Fighting change
Brings more pain

Change is scary

It happens daily

Sounds trite
But that's life

Hard knocks 
And your world rocks

Yeah, that sucks

No matter what you do

Expect victory

Whatever your story

Time heals
Though changes make you reel
Stay real

Even when you don't understand

And on your legs

You feel you cannot stand

Stop living in the past

Hold on to any solid ground

You've found

A good turn is coming round.