So often we say to ourselves and others,
“I am so lazy”,
“I am so messy”,
“I don’t have discipline”
“I can’t be consistent”
“I am so unorganized”,
And all such things about ourselves,
I could tell you that these are lies that you are telling yourself and that you should change your negative self-talk, but to be truthful they’re actually not.
They are the truth or rather partial truths.
You believe you are lazy because in the past you HAVE been lazy and you showed laziness towards many things.
You believe you are messy because in the past you HAVE acted like a mess
You say you don’t have discipline because in the past you actually didn’t SHOW discipline to do certain things.
Whatever your negative beliefs about yourself are right now is actually based on the truth of how you have actually been.
That is why you believe in them so strongly because they have all been true for you and you feel that is how it’s going to be.
But what I want to say here is that, even though they are true, they are only truths about the past.
The past being the keyword here.
Many of us have lost confidence in ourselves and in our ability, because we think yesterday we couldn’t and so even today we can’t.
We let days and weeks pass by just thinking that even today will be ruined because yesterday it was so.
But how things have been in the past need not necessarily have to be how things are going to be in the future.
They are not truths about the present, but truths about the past.
So you can, or rather, you must change your narrative from:
“I am so lazy” to “I WAS lazy”
“I am having bad days” to “I HAD a bad day”
“I am so messy” to “I WAS a mess”
“I don’t have discipline” to “I DID’T have discipline”
Who you were in the past does not necessarily have to be who you have to keep on being.
And how you acted in the past does not necessarily have to be how you have to continue to act forever.
You can break the cycle and change your life; but only if you don’t let the past guide you.
For this, you have to be mindful of whether your past is creeping up to haunt your present and thereby your future.
One thing that can help you do this is by remembering that, You are brand new in every single moment, because you are.
And so is your life.
Forget that you have been unkind to yourself in the past.
Forget that you didn’t have courage in the past.
Forget that you didn’t have discipline in the past
Forget that you didn’t have love in the past,
or Forget whatever it is that you have to.
It doesn’t matter if the past was just yesterday, or even a few hours back.
The past is past and it is already gone.
But the present is here, and the present is always brand new capable of being anything you want it to.
Every time you have a limiting belief about who you can be and how your life can be, ask yourself if this is what your past is making you believe.
But if you stop yourself from trying something new because in the past you couldn’t say yes to it, you are letting the past guide your present and your future
If you say you can’t because in the past you couldn’t, you are letting the past guide you.
If you say “My life will always be a mess” because in the past your life was so, you are letting the past guide you.
And the past is not a great guide. The past can only be a good teacher.
So take the lessons and let go of the past.
Let all your actions be brand new and completely independent of the past.
Start each day as brand new. Take every 5 minutes in front of you as brand new.
See yourself and each moment as brand new “from this moment on”
How would you then act and what are the things you would then be saying and trying?
If you want to delve more on this, here is a journal prompt for you,
In what things and areas of your life are you letting the past haunt your present and future?
How would it be if you thought of ‘this moment on’ as brand new independent of the past?
P.S This was a part from my Mindful Monday Newsletter. If you liked what you read and want to receive my updates, join below. It would be wonderful to have you ❤️
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