The art of letting go

Past is a place where you learnt the lesson, and future is the place where you will apply it. Life becomes beautiful when you keep finding seeds of learning in every experience and sow the same seed it in your future.

“Stop reading the same chapter again and again. You have the learning; you know what it is, so why spend time re-reading it? Instead move further and see what’s in store in the next chapter,” said a teacher to her student. Isn’t it true in our lives too? We keep looking at the past even after we know the story. The chapter is not the book, it’s only a part of it, but if you are stuck to it, you will never know the complete story. It is just like watching a short scene and evaluating the entire movie. The movie unfolds gradually and you have to wait till the end.

You will know that at the end everything falls in place. If it doesn’t feel good today; it’s not the end, so keep moving forward. Sometimes it is good to look back, not at the event, but to see how far you have come. Life is a journey, where either you are moving back or moving forward, you can’t stay where you are. Whenever you don’t move towards your future you are moving backwards.

The worst regret of my life is the time I spent thinking of my past. Instead of visualising a beautiful future I trapped myself in the memories of my past. And this is the story of almost everyone facing challenges and going through tough times. We are tempted to think about what happened, how it happened and most importantly, ‘Why it happened’. In such times it is okay to look back but also remember not to hold back yourself in the past.

We often fail to see the bigger picture, we judge early and hence we trap ourselves in the past. Past should make you better not bitter. The more anger you have for your past, the more blockades you are creating for your future. As anger doesn’t let love into your life, similarly resentment doesn’t let success in. Drop your judgements about the past and see it as a learning experience. Don’t ask life, ‘Why me’, instead say ‘Try me’.

Find the seed of growth in your past. Become more than what you are, appreciate the resilience with which you went through the struggles of life, feel victorious that you are standing at a place which is better than the past. And if it is not better, then remember that the best is yet to come. Past is a place where you learnt the lesson, and future is the place where you will apply it. Life becomes beautiful when you keep finding seeds of learning in every experience and sow the same seed it in your future. It is bound to give you fruits you would have never imagined. Let your past become your coach. Accept and learn from it.

Acceptance liberates you from the past, it keeps you at peace. When I went to Bangalore, I conducted a programme at an airport office. I started it well, but wasn’t able to concentrate for long. I could hear the aircraft movement on the runway, making sharp noise every five minutes. It became difficult for me to concentrate. I asked the audience if they are comfortable with the noise, and they said, “We are in a habit of working with the noise in the background, and now we don’t focus on it anymore”.

I could see that the people working there had accepted the noise and no longer focus on it. It’s the same with our past, it may come across very often but we should not focus on it. We can accept the past instead of resisting it and be engaged in our daily lives. Resistance creates disturbance, while acceptance creates rest. Be at rest instead of being in the past.

Past can be a good friend when it reminds you of the good times you spent, the achievements you had, the victories you enjoyed and the moments you loved. When your past begins to make you feel good about yourself, it must be referred. But also know in your being that your greatest victories are still out in the future. Past has passed, tomorrow is your future and present is a gift and hence it is called the ‘Present’. Enjoy this present!

By: Nishit lal