#60
Every decision you had to make or chose not to make has brought you to this very moment.
Occasionally you might wonder what life might have been if you chose something differently, like your university degree, or your career path, perhaps your partner, and even your friends.
“Did I settle for less than I deserve?”
“Did I miss an opportunity?”
“Did I do the right thing?”
It doesn’t really matter, does it? It’s all in the past.
But, you see, every time you question the past, you bring it with you in the present.
Why?
When you keep bringing the past with you (in your thoughts or in your heart), you are more likely to act from a past version of yourself.
You are forever changing, always evolving.
But when you look to the past for an answer as to who you are, you’ll only ever see a fragment of your potential.
When you recognise yourself with the “story” of who you are based on the past, you lose the opportunity to allow yourself to just be. This prevents you from truly experiencing the present moment and recognising the opportunities to change the future.
Have you ever said one of the sentences below or heard people around you say them?
“That’s just who I am.”
“Oh, I don’t know if I can change that about myself".”
“If only I was this or that…” or “If only I had this or that…”
When you limit your identity to a set of qualities or achievements, you block your own growth by allowing the ego to keep you in a familiar space.
Sure, that space might be awesome and luxurious, people might say to you “You’re lucky” or “I wish I had your life”, but ultimately the limit to who you are and what you can achieve does not exist. The limit is in your head.
That is why we say that what we believe in becomes our reality.
If we believe we have settled for a life that doesn’t give us the enjoyment that we desire and we do nothing to change it, because we don’t believe we deserve more, guess what? We experience more of life that does not meet our expectations and keep us unsatisfied.
If we believe that we used to allow people to treat us poorly but now we have the right boundaries in place, because we honour our needs, guess what? We meet more people that treat us the right way and respect our needs, because we’ve learned to do that ourselves.
A missed opportunity in the past is nothing more than a lesson (and sometimes a blessing). Next time an opportunity presents itself, you’ll know to do – seize it.
