The Man in the Mirror Project - Past Hurts

How can we let go of past hurts?  Do you carry with you the wounds of yesterday as if they are fresh cuts that still bind your thoughts and emotions?  No one goes without hurts caused by others.  We often tell ourselves that sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will never hurt us, but is it really true?  Does name calling, verbal harassment, mean deeds and actions really ever leave us completely?

The answer to that is a resounding no.  We go through our life most often holding onto resentments of the past, while still holding out for a better future.  An image, however, that comes to mind is a mummy that when it tries to walk forward is dragging with it a burdened leg with wrappings still attached.
So how do we really let go?  Can we simply decide to let the pain leave us or does it require more introspection?  Deciding is ultimately the first step.  You must decide whole heartily that this is what you want.  That you really do want the experience to leave you.  Most often we say we do, but we don't whole heartily go there.  We say things like "It doesn't matter" or "I'm over it", then something happens to us that reminds us of the past and BINGO, we are in the mucky waters of bitterness all over again.

Here, again, is a pattern of energy.  Recreating itself time and time again, every time a similar person or event enters into or leaves our life.

Breaking down the pattern consists of three steps:

1. Decide to let it go.  WHOLE heartily decide you will no longer carry the burden with you.  It is in the past.  Telling your self "I release the thoughts and actions of my past and the past in which others have hurt me." begins the process.
2. Realize that whatever the situation was is done and most likely was the result of poor thinking, poor choices, poor communication, or even conditioned patterning.  This realization must lead you to know we are also imperfect beings - all of us.  Accept the fact that we are imperfect; the perpetrator(s) and ourselves.
3. Finally, forgive yourself and forgive that part of your past.  Decide that it does no one good rehashing but know that you must sit with it for a while and repeat the steps as necessary to finally release it from your mental and emotionally bodies.  When the hurt comes up and the wounds get opened again, remind yourself of these three steps, deciding once and for all to leave the past in the past.