We often find ourselves stressing out, struggling with, or stuck in our past. Sometimes it’s a bad breakup, a mistake we made, someone who wronged you, or just something you wish you had done differently. The point is, we’re in our own heads over something that is already done. Well, it’s time to move forward.
Learn from your mistakes:
I know we just said to move on, however, that doesn’t mean there aren’t lessons to be learned from our past. Mistakes happen all the time, but it’s what we learn from those mistakes that help us grow as humans. If we don’t learn from our mistakes, are we not bound to make them again? Half the battle is recognizing where things went wrong, the other half is learning how to prevent it from happening again and moving forward.
Focus on the now:
What happened yesterday already happened, and you can’t change that. And while planning for the future is always smart, don’t forget to focus on the here and now. You can’t change your past and plans don’t always work out the way we hoped. But one thing we can do is focus on what we do right now. If you have a chance to improve your life, take it! If you have a chance to make someone else’s day better, take it! Nothing in life is ever guaranteed, so don’t take a single moment for granted.
Evaluate your people:
What kind of people do you have around you? Are these people helping you move forward? Or are they holding you back? Having the right people around you is crucial to moving forward. If you are spending time with the same people from your past that are making you want to move forward, it’s going to be a lot more challenging to do so. Instead of doing the same things with the same people, figure out what people in your life are positive influences and negative influences. Which people in your life are truly good for you? The sooner you surround yourself with positive people, the easier it’ll be to forget your past and reshape your future.
Forgive:
Look, being the victim of wrongdoing isn’t something we can always control. It’s perfectly okay to be upset at times, that’s just part of life. While we can always take time to reflect on things, the most important step in moving forward from your past is learning to forgive. When someone wrongs us, it’s hard to just give up that anger. However, holding onto that grudge isn’t healthy. You will catch yourself too many times focusing on something that’s already done. You don’t have to like what happened, but giving yourself the mental relief of forgiving will help you grow and move forward.
The past can be tough on us, there is no denying that. The future can be scary, there’s no denying that either. But sometimes, we just have to learn to move forward. Holding a grudge isn’t healthy, living in the past won’t change it, and stressing over the future will only make it scarier. But right now, in this exact moment, you’re in charge of what you do. Let us all love more and hate less.