NEW BEGINNINGS....Day Seven

January 7th....’NEW BEGINNINGS’...Day Seven

If you celebrate Orthodox Christmas then Merry Christmas today.  

Yesterday I focused on number two on the list of eight things to quit in the new year. Today I’ll be focusing on item three. 

The third thing on the list is ‘living in the past’.

Often many keep living in the past. They bring up things that occurred in the past over and over and over again.  They don’t like the fact things have changed or accept the fact. They relive the days gone by with the same stories time and again like a broken record. Reminiscing is fine but not when it becomes an obsession.  Perhaps you had a bad break up with someone and can not overcome this event. You rethink every moment of the relationship constantly. You still go to the same places you once did; do some of the same things.  You are afraid to move on in life; but you need to do so. If it’s a restaurant you’ve always went to, go somewhere new.  Don’t keep doing the same thing time and time again because it’s how you always done it; change it up a bit. 

Today’s item on the list, in a way, can go hand in hand with yesterday’s item which was fearing change.  We focus on things that were in our past lives and do not look to the future.  Again the relationship that once was; you think how it was wonderful.  You look for the same type of relationship to redo what you’ve done before. But remember if that past relationship was so wonderful you’d still be together.  You can not expect things to stay the same.  Let go of the past; look ahead. After a while you’ll find family and friends get tired of hearing the same old stories about how great things were.  Sometimes they don’t want to hurt your feelings and tell you they are not interested in hearing the same thing over again.  Look for the signs they want you to move ahead.  If they try to change the subject; or remember they have someplace to be or something they forgot to do. An example is a guy I know relives stories about holidays past.  He says things aren’t the same without his spouse. He can not see enjoying them.  People have politely suggested to him to take baby steps to move forward.  So far it has fallen on deaf ears.  He just repeats the stories on how it was before. Hopefully he’ll read this but then perhaps not.  Those that know him only hope he travels forward. There is a saying I heard that to live in past is to die in present. I looked this up and found it was said by a popular professional football team coach.  He is correct; as if you keep living in the past you are not living now in the present day. You are stuck there with nothing on which to look ahead.  Doing so you just may miss out on all the good things that surround you.  As I said in the beginning it’s nice to reminisce on the past but don’t get stuck there.  No one can predict their future.  Another saying is that yesterday is the past; tomorrow the future; today is a gift and that’s why it’s called the present. See each day as a gift and live for each and everyday.  Leave the past behind you.  You may be surprised on what you will find.  Take those baby steps I mentioned in doing so. 

Until tomorrow....think of item two and today’s item as one thing together. Have a terrific Tuesday.