"The past is behind, learn from it. The future is ahead, prepare for it. The present is here, live it." - Thomas S. Monson

Humans seem to have a penchant for living in the past. At times some go as far as two or three decades ago. The trouble is most live in the memories of failures, hurts and missed opportunities rather than remembering their triumphs and joy.

You cannot undo whatever occurred before or the mistakes that you or others have made. If you spend most of your waking hours to reminisce your earlier period of life of disappointments, you are bringing anger and more hurt to your present. This is damaging because you will continue to live with little hope for the future.

How to deal with your past.

• Catching your thoughts in action.

You think of something that is long gone and then it leads you to another thought. It appears on your mental screen. In your normal and habitual way, you attend to them and entertain old dialogs and arguments. Soon they will evoke your emotions and you are back to the old days.

If you want to deal with them, you need to catch yourself each time when the first thought appears. Look at your mental screen of images as though it is happening to someone else so that you do not feel attached to the memory. Mentally move the image further from you and reduce the noise that you are hearing.

If you think this is silly, reflect back. Can you recall hearing a song or seeing a movie that you have watched playing again in your head? How did you shut them off? The same applies with your memories. You can do the same.

If you need help in changing your negative thoughts, memories and mindset, you can try this prosperity series.

• Learning from them.

Your bygone memories are useful only if you learn from them and invest those experiences for your personal growth and a better future.

By now you should know what were the mistakes that you have made and what could have been done. What you need to do in the present moment is make better decisions and do something new or different.

Decide on new goals, focus on them and spend your time on activities that bring you closer to your dreams. Do all you can.

Remember, your present actions, behavior, attitudes and the people you are associating with now are going to become your past. You would definitely want to create as many good recollections as you can, don't you?

• Release.

One of the ways to release the baggage is to let go. Put yourself in a relaxed state of mind by meditating. In your solitude, look within and get in touch with your emotions.

Communicate within and ask yourself how feel about the thing that is bothering you. Tell the little you inside to let go. Affirm to yourself that you will choose to forgive.

Keep doing this consistently so that you will understand yourself better. You will enjoy better health and live more wisely.

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