Make Peace with Your Past and Heal Your Life

Make peace with your past so it wont destroy your present. ~ Paulo
Coelho
There are many things most of us try to keep hidden from ourselves and
from those around us, things that caused us so much pain and suffering.
Things that are perceived by our minds as being dark, ugly and painful.
Things that we would rather forget they once happened. Things we
would rather keep buried deep down inside than bring back to the
surface. But the truth of the matter is that until we dont come to terms
with what happened, until we dont cleanse ourselves, until we dont
heal all our past wounds and until we dont bring light into our once
dark world, the past will continue to haunt us. And those painful
experiences will continue to have power over us and well continue to be
their victims.
Healing doesnt mean the damage never existed. It means the damage
no longer controls your life. ~ Akshay Dubey
According to the Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist Carl Jung,
everyone carries a shadow. Theres a dark side to all of us, and as long
as we continue to hide, repress and isolate this side of us, our darkness
will continue to influence ourselves and the way we live our lives. And
we will continue to be its victims.
We carry our past with us, to wit, the primitive and inferior man with his
desires and emotions, and it is only with an enormous effort that we can
detach ourselves from this burden. If it comes to a neurosis, we
invariably have to deal with a considerably intensified shadow. And if
such a person wants to be cured it is necessary to find a way in which

his conscious personality and his shadow can live together. ~ Carl
Gustav Jung, Answer to Job (1952).
We live in a world where people are ashamed to face and confront
themselves, their past, their hurts and their wounds. A world where a lot
of people pretend to be happy when theyre not. Taking great care of the
image they have in the eyes of the world. Painting the outside in bright
and shiny colors when the inside is in ruins.
We care more about what other people think of us than we do about how
we feel.
How sick is that?
We spend most of our lives desperately trying to run and hide from who
we are deep down inside. Thinking that by keeping ourselves busy with
all kind of meaningless things and by living our lives the way everyone
around us live their lives, we will eventually be happy. But we will never
be happy unless we take out the garbage, and unless we dont bring
light into our dark inner world.
If you bring forth that which is within you, then that which is within you
will be your salvation. If you do not bring forth that which is within you,
then that which is within you will destroy you. ~ The Gnostic Gospels
In the Four Noble Truths espoused by the Buddha, we are taught that
suffering is part of the human condition. The first noble truth, teaches us
that pain is part of the human condition. And as long as we try to avoid
confronting those things that once caused us pain and suffering, we
cant really heal ourselves and our lives. In fact, the more we try to hide,
repress and isolate past painful experiences, the more we prolong the
suffering.
The second truth teaches us that we must get to the root cause of our
suffering. We must find the courage to face ourselves, our shadows and
our hidden wounds so that we can allow the healing process to begin.
We often hold the tacit assumption that all of our suffering stems from
events in the past. But, whatever the initial seed of trauma, the deeper
truth is that our suffering is more closely a result of how we deal with the
effect these past events have on us in the present. ~ Peter A. Levine
PhD

The third noble truth tells us that all wounds can be healed while the
fourth noble truth states that, once you have identified the root cause of
your suffering, you must find an appropriate path that will help you heal.
There are so many things you can do to make peace with your past and
heal your life and I have to say that one of the most important things is to
learn to be alone with yourself and fully accept all that you are. And once
you can do this, all the other things will come so easily and effortlessly.
Take time to know yourself and heal yourself. To make peace with your
past and to make peace with yourself. Spend less time trying to impress
people who arent worth impressing and more time alone with yourself.
Get to know yourself for who you truly are and not for who you think
others expect you to be.
If your mind carries a heavy burden of past, you will experience more of
the same. The past perpetuates itself through lack of presence. The
quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future.
~ Eckhart Tolle
Get in touch with the parts of you that are still hurting. Take the heavy
burden of your past from your heart and place it on a piece of paper.
Ease your pain by writing about your innermost thoughts and feelings in
a journal that only you have access to. Bring to the surface all the past
experiences that are sabotaging your happiness and your life.
If you can do this alone, see if you can talk to a trusted friend, a family
member or even a therapist.
Allow yourself to be vulnerable in the relationship you have with yourself
and the relationship you have with others. Open yourself up only to
those people who have earned the right to hear your story. Only to them
and no one else.
Set time alone each day, if you cant do it daily at least once or twice a
week, to converse with the younger part of you. The you that
experienced the pain and suffering. Ask for forgiveness from that part of
you and work on forgiving those who might have hurt you also.
Meditate in the morning and meditate in the evening before going to bed.
5 or 10 minutes or if you can, do it for more.

Pray, if you can and if you want to, for strength, for courage, for wisdom
and for healing. Ask to learn the lessons you need to learn and ask for
help in releasing the heavy burden of your past.
Talk to your Soul, and ask your Soul to lead the way. To guide you and
to give you the wisdom, power and confidence to make peace with your
past, face your shadows, and heal your life.
Spend time alone in nature, to renew, refresh and restore yourself. To
really notice the beauty that surrounds you and to recognize the miracle
and magic of life in all that you see and all that you are.
Take deep breaths throughout the day and make sure you are always
present in the now. Whenever you feel yourself drifting, you can use the
same words I use, learned this from the buddhist monk Thch Nht
Hnh, to bring yourself back into the present moment:
Breathing in, I calm body and mind.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment (breathing in),
I know this is the only moment (breathing out).
Do these things and many others. To heal yourself and to heal your life.
To make peace with all that happened and to move on with your life.
Make peace with your past, and the past will stop sabotaging your
happiness and your life. And remember: In virtually every spiritual
tradition, suffering is seen as a doorway to awakening. In the West, this
connection can be seen in the biblical story of Job, as well as the dark
night of the soul in medieval mysticism. ~ Peter A. Levine PhD
Why do you think its so hard for people to make peace with their past
and instead of repressing and isolating painful experiences, to face their
shadows and bring light into their once dark world? You can share your
insights by joining the conversation in the comment section below
P.S. Make sure you also read 11 Things You Should Start Doing for
Yourself Today. It might be of great help to you in your healing process.
With all my love,

How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more
patience would have achieved success. -Elbert Hubbard
How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more
patience would have achieved success. -Elbert Hubbard
How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more
patience would have achieved success. -Elbert Hubbard
How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more
patience would have achieved success. -Elbert Hubbard