Sometimes we look back on our lives and can see the milestones, the turning points, where we made a decision that created the track we are now on. Ever look back at that moment and say, “What if? What if I had chosen that job, taken that trip, accepted that invitation?”
Do you realize that when you are in the present moment you are actually experiencing the past? For example, when you look at a page in a book, it takes a nanosecond for your eye to register the words on the page. So the moment you see the words on the page, you are seeing the words from some point in the past.
Another example: When a group of artists gather around a studio and simultaneously draw a still life, each image is different. That’s because the artists see the objects from their own unique perspective, drawing from their own set of experiences, based on their own capabilities (how they depict what they see) and ideas as to what the fruit should look like at a particular moment in time.
“Since no brain is the same, every person will have their own limits of time perception and their own sphere of now. In fact, every brain, be it biological or mechanical (light-sensitive detecting device), has a different processing time and will have its own sphere of now; each one will have a distinctive perception of reality. “ – The Island of Knowledge: The Limits of Science and the Search for Meaning by Marcelo Gleiser
So if the present is actually the past, that means we can change the future, doesn’t it? Instead of dreading what’s ahead (fearing the future), why not create what you want instead? In her book, Future Lives: Discovering and Understanding Your Destiny, Gloria Chadwick writes:
“If you could pull the future into the present, what would you do with what you learned and how would it affect you? What would you bring back from the future as a gift to yourself in the present? What corresponding changes would ripple through the past, present and future? … Look into future lives to observe your soul patterns and to see the talents and abilities you have, then weave them into the present and the past.”
Granted, we cannot change the past, but at the same time, the past is in fact, behind us, and should no longer define our present reality. Forgive yourself and forgive those that have found fault in your actions, thoughts and deeds, then redefine your view of those past experiences. They are your personal experiences, so it’s no one’s business how you view them. Each person sees a situation from their own perspective anyway, so there is no right or wrong way to view the past.
So how do you redefine the future? Start with what you know. Take a moment to list your positive attributes, i.e., the talents that you were given in this life. Are you a writer, an artist, a poet, a dancer, a chef? Are you a great listener? Place the list in a place where you can reflect upon it regularly. After a while, you will come to realize that you are as unique and beautiful as a snowflake. Appreciate the “you in you.” No one else is quite like you, and that is something to be proud of. Then visualize how you could use those talents in your life to make it better.
Louise L. Hay, in her book, You Can Heal Your Life, writes:
“In the infinity of life where I am, all is perfect, whole and complete. My life is ever new. Each moment of my life is new and fresh and vital. I use my affirmative thinking to create exactly what I want. This is a new day. I am a new me. I think differently. I speak differently. I act differently. Others treat me differently. My new world is a reflection of my new thinking. It is a joy and a delight to plant new seeds, for I know these seeds will become my new experiences. All is well in my world.”