Complete the Past So You Can Embrace the Future
AFFIRMATIONS
for
Meditation and Reflection
I am releasing the past and becoming lighter and happier as I embrace my exciting future.
I am forgiving and letting go of past hurts, and re-directing my energy toward positive, goal-oriented activities.
I am creating the future I really want, free of past hurts, with my full attention on the present.
None of us can change our yesterdays but all of us can change our tomorrows.
—GENERAL COLIN POWELL
Former Secretary of State
When someone has hurt you deeply—or even harmed you physically or emotionally—it’s hard to let go of the past and move forward to living a successful life.
The Total Truth Process is a tool that will enable you to release any negative emotions from your past. By expressing all of your true feelings to the person who hurt you, you can move past the hurt and reclaim the naturally optimistic person you are meant to be.
When you speak to the person (you can also write a Total Truth Letter to send them, share with them, or for yourself alone), be sure to address the negative emotions you’re carrying by completing these phrases:
I am releasing the past and becoming lighter and happier as I embrace my exciting future.
We’ve talked before about the importance of positive energy and the reciprocal energy that flows back to you when you stay upbeat. But being unforgiving, angry, or negative about a past hurt follows the same Law of Attraction—you’ll only attract more of the same into your life.
Award-winning author Isabelle Holland said, “As long as you don’t forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy rent-free space in your head.” When you do forgive, it allows you to live in the present where you can take action and create a successful future for yourself, your family, and your company. Here’s how:
1) Acknowledge your anger and resentment.
2) Acknowledge the hurt and pain it created.
3) Acknowledge the fears and self-doubts it created.
4) Acknowledge any part you may have had in letting the behavior or event occur or continue.
5) Acknowledge what you wanted and didn’t get, then attempt to understand where the other person was coming from at the time and the needs he was trying to meet by his behavior.
6) Let go and forgive the person.
I am forgiving and letting go of past hurts, and re-directing my energy toward positive, goal-oriented activities.
Over the years, I have sought—and found—thousands upon thousands of inspirational stories for the Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and I learned that human beings have the potential to forgive anything or anyone, no matter how brutal or tragic.
About 10 years ago, I learned a technique called tapping therapy that proved to be a breakthrough for many people for whom getting beyond their “past” was exceptionally difficult and painful. “Tapping” is a drug-free and non-invasive way to reduce or eliminate post-traumatic stress. The technique is so powerful that it has been used with genocide victims in Rwanda and Bosnia, by a trainer of the British Special Forces in the Congo, and with returning U.S. soldiers with PTSD. Tapping stimulates the body’s own ability to release stored pain of any kind—including emotional pain which the body also stores. The results are absolutely miraculous!
In my book Tapping into Ultimate Success 1 you can learn how to use tapping to free yourself from stress, emotional hurts and anxieties and, ultimately, help you succeed.
I am creating the future I really want, free of past hurts, with my full attention on the present.
1 Tapping into Ultimate Success: How to Overcome Any Obstacle and Skyrocket Your Results by Jack Canfield with Pamela Bruner (Hay House, 2012).