"Never let yesterday use up too much of today."
~Will Rogers
Too many people live in the past. We let our past experiences and the emotions that accompany those experiences stockpile. We carry them with us, long after they have outlived their usefulness. I call these stockpiled emotions and the limiting beliefs that sometimes accompany them "emotional clutter." And, like physical clutter, it gets in the way. It keeps us from seeing the resources we have in front of us because they are buried in all that past baggage. When you let go of the past, you let go of the ways that it saps your energy and keeps your from success and happiness. You finally have the freedom to live in the present, and create today for your future.
This week: Think about which events in your past keep you stuck in the past. Were those experiences pleasant or unpleasant? Unfortunately, usually the ones we hang on to are unpleasant. If you are hanging on to these because you think that you need to remember them and think about them to remember some important lesson, guess what? That is a myth. The emotions from an event are totally separate from the learning contained in that event. Plus, when you hang on to negative emotions, you guarantee that you will be stuck in the past where they originated. Ask yourself, "What do I need to learn from that event in order to move on?" If you need some help letting go, find someone who can help you. When you let go of that "emotional clutter," you'll be able to move forward and begin to ENJOY your life!
Linda Pucci, Ph.D. is a psychologist, life coach and expert in helping people let go of their "emotional clutter" from past negative experiences. She has written a self-help book: Get Rid of Emotional Clutter: How Negative Emotions and Limiting Beliefs Block Your Dreams and What You Can Do About It. The book and free articles are available at http://www.emotionalclutter.com/ and at http://www.innerresourcecenter.com/ .