{"id":158,"date":"2014-04-06T22:31:30","date_gmt":"2014-04-06T22:31:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/becausethisisyourlife\/?p=158"},"modified":"2014-04-06T22:31:30","modified_gmt":"2014-04-06T22:31:30","slug":"how-much-do-you-want-to-change-your-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/becausethisisyourlife\/2014\/04\/how-much-do-you-want-to-change-your-past.html","title":{"rendered":"How Much Do You Want To Change Your Past?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As humans we quite often find ourselves tempted by certain\u00a0things, some more than others.<\/p>\n<p>One of the things I&#8217;m referring to is about going back in time and changing certain events in our lives.<\/p>\n<p>The reasons for wanting to do this at first seem to make sense. For example, you may have made a decision and taken\u00a0action on doing something in the past that didn&#8217;t go the way you wanted and just the thought of being able to change that\u00a0would somehow help.<\/p>\n<p>The other part of this involves those decisions you made and actions you took in the past which may have you regretting\u00a0what you did or didn&#8217;t do.<\/p>\n<p>What this ends up leading to is carrying around emotional\u00a0baggage and let&#8217;s face it, no one wants to be carrying that\u00a0around and having it run their life.<\/p>\n<p>If this applies to you in some way I have a question for you:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;How much do you want to change your past?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Blast from the past-<\/strong> Let&#8217;s face it, as humans it is natural\u00a0to have the tendency to want to go back in the past and come\u00a0from the mindset of, &#8220;If I had just changed that one decision\u00a0I made or didn&#8217;t make things would have been different&#8230;I \u00a0would have been happier and better off.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Really? Are you sure about that?<\/p>\n<p>Now at first you most likely would say yes. We&#8217;ve all been in\u00a0those situations, myself included.<\/p>\n<p>It is very tempting to say that if you changed just one thing\u00a0from the past that things would have turned out better.<\/p>\n<p>On the flip side along with this is also the tendency to say,\u00a0&#8220;I don&#8217;t even want to think about what took place in the past,\u00a0I just want to forget about it altogether.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Really? Are you sure about this too?<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the deal&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s nothing wrong with looking back in your past, it just\u00a0depends on how you do so.<\/p>\n<p>Looking back on any moment(s) in your past and thinking that if you changed something your life would have been happier\u00a0and better off is an unwise thing to do.<\/p>\n<p>The reason is, because by changing just one thing, even what\u00a0seems like an insignificant event can and does change everything\u00a0else that follows&#8230;and it can certainly do so in ways that\u00a0you may not want.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore it is wise to be grateful for what has taken place in your life no matter what it was and see how it has helped\u00a0you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Back to the future-<\/strong> Many people feel that our past shapes\u00a0our future. Along these lines there are people who will say\u00a0that what others have done in the past will continue to be\u00a0a pattern that shows up in the future. The question here is,\u00a0&#8220;Is there any truth to this?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The answer is &#8220;yes&#8221; and &#8220;no.&#8221; It depends.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m sure it&#8217;s obvious that some people will just have a tendency,\u00a0no matter what they say, to just continue to repeat and do the\u00a0same things over and over again&#8230;even though they may say,\u00a0&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry&#8221; for things they&#8217;ve done before.<\/p>\n<p>Take a look at this and you&#8217;ll see it quite often. Of course this isn&#8217;t true with everyone but those who have a high tendency\u00a0to say, &#8220;I&#8217;m sorry&#8221; will have a high probability of doing that \u00a0very thing they&#8217;re apologizing for again and again. Take a closer look and you&#8217;ll see this much more than you originally thought.<\/p>\n<p>Then of course you have some people who will apologize for something and they&#8217;ll stay true to their word. This doesn&#8217;t happen as often as most people would like to believe.<\/p>\n<p>Where am I going with this?<\/p>\n<p>Just know that whatever you&#8217;ve done or not done in the past\u00a0is something that has served you and others whether you&#8217;re\u00a0aware of it at any point in time or not.<\/p>\n<p>The idea is to realize this and be grateful for it so you\u00a0can be in a poised, present, and purposeful state of mind\u00a0without having unnecessary emotional baggage weighing you\u00a0down.<\/p>\n<p>This is yet another reason why you wouldn&#8217;t want to go back in time in any way and change the past.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Here in the now-<\/strong> There is this real cool picture I&#8217;ve come\u00a0across and it is of a clock that has the word &#8220;now&#8221; in place\u00a0of the numbers one through twelve. Of course this is to mean\u00a0that no matter what time it is that time is &#8220;now.&#8221; I love the\u00a0concept but the bigger question is&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;How do we maintain being in the now at all times?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The truth, which is surprising to many people, is that no\u00a0one is able to always be 100% in the &#8220;now&#8221; all the time.<\/p>\n<p>However, we can train ourselves and certainly be able to get into those states of presence during very specific moments.<\/p>\n<p>The fact is that we as humans are always oscillating in some\u00a0way emotionally, and certainly some more than others.<\/p>\n<p>Those who go on what some call an &#8220;emotional roller coaster&#8221;\u00a0will have very frequent up and down mood swings, while those\u00a0who are more poised, present, and in the &#8220;now&#8221; will have very\u00a0little emotional mood swings.<\/p>\n<p>Why is this important?<\/p>\n<p>Because in order for you to realize the magnificence and brilliance\u00a0of who you are it is very important to be able to control and\u00a0manage your emotions to the point of being poised, present,\u00a0and in that &#8220;now&#8221; state.<\/p>\n<p>And a big part of being able to do this involves what I&#8217;ve\u00a0been discussing with you today, knowing how to go back in\u00a0your past and use it to your (and others) advantage.<\/p>\n<p>Once again, it&#8217;s not about wanting to change your past but\u00a0to see how it has helped you become the wonderful and amazing person you are.<\/p>\n<p>So the next time you think about that clock and that the time\u00a0is &#8220;now&#8221; just know that your time is now to shine and to show\u00a0the world how much of an important person you are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As humans we quite often find ourselves tempted by certain\u00a0things, some more than others. One of the things I&#8217;m referring to is about going back in time and changing certain events in our lives. The reasons for wanting to do this at first seem to make sense. For example, you may have made a decision&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":556,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Much Do You Want To Change Your Past? - Because This Is Your Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Much Do You Want To Change Your Past? - Because This Is Your Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As humans we quite often find ourselves tempted by certain\u00a0things, some more than others. 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