Learning From The Past

Do you often look back on your life with a pure intention of learning from past mistakes, but end up feeling stuck there? Does it eventually lead to very little learning and a lot of lamenting about whatever had happened? Often when we rewind scenes from our past, we get into a lot of could have’s and should have...and begin writing a futile script about ourselves or others – Why did I do that? or He could have supported me but didn’t? Or she should have taken my advice. The process of re-living of pain repeatedly will deplete our happiness and health. We fail to learn anything. Our focus shifts from me to them, and we get into judgments and a blame game. Learning from the past means we become aware of how we reacted previously, and prepare ourselves to respond in the right manner the next time when the stimulus is the same.

Take a minute to see how you reflect positively to associate with positive thoughts about an incident, instead of the bitterness you created last time –

★ 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ★
I am a knowledgeable being. I always honour my worth and accept myself. There were a few times…when I didn’t think well about a colleague… reacted with pain or anger with a family member or made a wrong business decision. I take responsibility for them… without going into guilt or shame. I forgive myself completely for them and release the negativity held about the incident.

➤Being a constant learner, I reflect on those scenes now, only and only to check how else I could have responded…not how anyone else had to. I see on the screen of my mind how I could have thought, what I could have spoken, and how I could have behaved. I mentally rehearse that scene…focusing completely on my script. I want to learn from it and move forward positively, forgiving myself and others.

➤I take my mind in the direction of self-transformation and prepare it to respond in a healthy manner the next time. I do not let yesterday’s mistakes carry forward into today. I then come into the present moment. If I see that someone was not being right to me in that scene, I do not withdraw from them. I just withdrew from my past negative reactions. I release any negative feelings about them or myself. I increase my power of adjustment and adaptability. I always look to learn and improve.