Learning to Let Go of Our Past...

Internal Acceptance Movement

Letting go of the pain from our past isn’t easy.

We think that by holding onto our hurt and resentment that we can protect ourselves from being hurt in the future.

But in our attempts to prevent ourselves from getting hurt, we end up preventing ourselves from being loved.

By fixating on the past and what “could have” or “should have” happened, we end up missing out on the present and neglecting our reality.

Attaching judgement to our situation doesn’t undo what happened. 

It doesn’t ease the hurt or regret we feel. It makes us feel worse, and it prevents us from moving forward.

We can’t go back in time and change what happened, but we can learn from the result and use it as an opportunity for growth.

We can’t erase our pain but we can choose to redefine our circumstances. 

Everything in life has something to teach us.

Instead of fixating on what we can’t change, we can choose to acknowledge what we do have control over.  

Instead of beating ourselves up over the decisions we’ve made, we can remind ourselves that no one is perfect. We can recognize that we did the best we could in the moment and that’s enough.

Instead of viewing what happened as a waste of time because things didn’t work out, we can choose to see our circumstances as a learning experience that taught us a lot about who we are and what we want out of life.

Instead of perceiving ourselves as broken and hopeless, we can choose to recognize our ability to heal and overcome hardship.

You may not be able to understand the lesson in the moment—in fact, it may take years to recognize how a certain outcome or person was able to teach you something.

But the truth is that there is always something to learn;there is always something you can take away and use as an opportunity to better yourself.

Know that letting go isn’t about winning or losing.

It isn’t about loss or gain or labeling things as good and bad.

Letting go is about freeing yourself.

It’s about lifting a weight from your shoulders so that you can move on and continue to live your life.

Trust that even though things may not have turned out the way you wanted or imagined them to be, that you’re in the right place at the right time. 

Trust that you will end up exactly where you need to be. 

Know that you are stronger than your pain.

Your past no longer has to dictate your present.

It’s time to let go and live.