Sometimes in a person’s life, a battle takes place between him and his past. This battle occurs in that person’s present. The past controls and conditions its present, and the person becomes the victim of its past, and his whole life is covered with suffering. But is the past the true cause of suffering? If this battle is real, how can we win?
Imagine with me for a moment that we are witnessing a trial, a fictional trial. Today the court is going to dictate the sentence. The victim is a woman, and the defendant its past. The woman accused it for destroying her life. According to her, everything that happened to her and every person involved in her past have caused a permanent damage in her life. She expressed that her present has been conditioned by the things that happened or didn’t happened and by the persons that caused them. She claimed that her past is the first and only cause of all suffering she experiences in her present.
The trial takes place, and after several hours of debate, it is time for the verdict. After reviewing the case very carefully, the court makes a decision. The defendant is exonerated from all charges and the victim is found guilty and it is convicted to a life in prison, with the exemption that she will not be behind the bars, but she will be attached to the defendant, her past, for the rest of her life. Having a life of misery and despair.
“Too often, we carry around those things from our past that hurt us the most. Don’t let past pain rob you of your present happiness. You had to live through it in the past, and that cannot be changed, but if the only place it lives today is in your mind, then forgive, let go, and be free.” – Doe Zantamata
In this trial, the past is accused of causing suffering and permanent damage in this woman’s present. Then, why it is exonerated from all charges? How come the victim is declared guilty and the accused innocent? Because they are not judging situations, experiences and people of her past, they are judging it for causing pain in her present, and for the court the only cause of suffering of this woman in her present is herself, for the past itself can’t cause suffering in a place where it doesn’t exist, and it cease to exist in the present, the only one who can keep the past alive in the present is oneself in one’s mind, therefore, if we remain attached to it in our present, we are guilty of our present suffering.
When we become victims of our past, we immediately condemn ourselves to a life in prison. When we refuse to let it go by remaining attached to it, we take the role of victims, and in the end, the only thing we get is more and more suffering. The truth is, we cannot change what happened, no matter how painful it might have been, but we can change our present. We can decide to let go of the past, quitting the role of victims, and releasing ourselves from the hard sentence.
“Today is a new day. Don’t let your history interfere with your destiny! Let today be the day you stop being a victim of your circumstances and start taking action towards the life you want. You have the power and the time to shape your life. Break free from the poisonous victim mentality and embrace the truth of your greatness. You were not meant for a mundane or mediocre life!” – Steve Maraboli
Our past may have been our worst nightmare, we may have suffered, things in our past may have damaged us, people may have hurt us, and we can have all the right to feel victims, but by being a victim with all our resentment and hate we are not going to change what happened, nor we are going to feel better, but slowly and painfully those feelings will consume our own souls. Our past might never be of our liking, and maybe we will never overcome all the things that happened to us, but if we do not cease to be its victims, if we do not let it go, we will carry it as a burden in our backs, condemning ourselves to a life of misery.
It is a hard battle the one that is carried out between you and your past, but the victory is possible. To obtain it, to finally defeat it, there is a few things you need to do, but the first thing is to stop fighting with it. Let it go, accept it, forgive, let go of resentment, learn, those are useful things you can do to cease with your suffering. End this useless battle, and take back the control of your feelings, emotions and your entire life.
Stop being a victim of your past, letting it go, cutting all attachments to it, cleansing your body, soul and mind from all resentment, and starting again, only then you will heal your heart, end with all suffering and you will become free to start a new life!
