If your past still plagues you, then this is for you. The only catch is; you should desire freedom. If you want to experience the open-heartedness and enthusiasm that life has to offer, then make peace with your past. As we all have sometimes experienced, some events from our past have a mind of their own. They keep recirculating when all we want is for them to disappear.
If you feel that your past is nipping at your heels, then continue reading. Because below, you will discover 3 ways in which you can unlock the door to unbridled and joyful freedom. Once you are free of the past, you can enjoy the present and the future.
1) Express your pain
Acknowledge the pain the hurt made you feel. Then express it to either the person who caused it or even to someone else, just to get it out of your system. Rant about it, write it in a journal, cry about it, do whatever suits you, but try to get the hurt and the pain out of your body by expression. Expressing it will also help you understand what – specifically – your hurt is about.
The world we live in today is not black and white, even if we sometimes feel it is. While you may not have played a significant role in the hurt you experienced, there may be a small part of the hurt that you may be partially responsible for. Express your hurt. Then think about what could you have done differently?
2) Bid farewell to old identities
Identity is essentially an idea that you think describes who you are. Often, when you have been carrying your past pain, you might see yourself as wounded, needy, lacking, or broken. And it soon becomes a part of your identity. It makes you feel incompetent. These identities or the words you stick to yourself keeps you from seeing your natural brilliance. It’s like looking at yourself through a tinted glass.
Be open to shedding identities. Be available to clearing those tinted windows. See yourself for who you really are, and don’t let your past pain or experiences define you. Once you unchain yourself from your past, you no longer feel associated with those negative feelings, making you feel elevated.
3) Closure
We often remain sensitive to our wounds because we lack closure on past events. No, this does not mean you need to scrape the old wounds repeatedly and hope for the bleeding to stop naturally. Closure can be as simple as just saying what you couldn’t say back then.
Sometimes, writing your last feelings before you parted ways can be an excellent way to attain closure. Write a letter to the person you loved. This might not change the past, and maybe only seldom make you feel better. However, this way, you will proactively be changing the narrative. This way, you will no longer remain a passive victim to the story.
Healing from the past is an essential aspect of moving forward. Don’t bury your feelings. Try to acknowledge them; only then will you be able to see the beauty of the world again.
