Many people don't know how to find lasting happiness because they consistently replay the past. They carry emotions that aren't theirs to carry for things that were out of their control. They hold on to feelings like shame, regret, and unworthiness, or they keep blaming themselves for things others did to them. If you keep holding on to what you cannot control, it only weighs you down and keeps you in victim mode. Don't keep carrying the old. Release it by finding a new way to process the past so you can create a better future. You can transition from a place of pain to a place of purpose by adjusting how you "understand."
You cannot live "differently" if you don't understand "differently."
Let us explain. You are where you are because of the influence of past experiences. The past created a series of beliefs influencing how you currently view life. Along the way, these experiences became intertwined with your thoughts and beliefs. These thoughts became defensive barriers preventing you from living freely to your fullest potential. Yes, you might think the walls would protect you, but they only kept the things you wanted from getting to you.
If your life isn't how you currently want it to be, your way of understanding how to pursue your happiness has to change. You will need the courage to question yourself and your beliefs. To do this, you must start by transforming the way you pursue what you want. It is a matter of reprocessing how you speak to yourself, what you think about yourself, and how you understand what you are capable of creating. All these beliefs can stop you from becoming who you need to be.
To move forward, you have to challenge your loyalty to your old system of beliefs and move toward being more loyal to your happiness. Don't be dedicated to the old way if it isn't working; find a new approach. Being happy is not about what happens to you; it is about how you process and respond to life. Life is never challenging you; it is only challenging how you understand. To inventory how you currently process, look at the following three areas of your life.
How you speak to yourself can determine what you believe.
How do you talk about yourself and your life when no one listens? Do your use empowering words or constrictive ones? How you speak about yourself is how you present yourself to the world. If you speak for your abilities and trust them, you will introduce yourself at your best. If you are doubtful about what you are capable of, you present yourself as lacking confidence. If you inventory your life, you will find that it is possible to be confident in some areas and lack confidence in others. This is an excellent start to "understanding" where improvements in how you speak to encourage your thriving can be made. Take inventory of the areas that work and the ones that don't. Begin to talk about your possibilities, not your limitations.
How you think can influence how you understand.
You cannot create new ways of thinking if you keep using old experiences to develop them. Are you preserving your unhappiness because you are holding on to a past that influences your thinking? You cannot think one way and live another. To live differently, you have to understand differently. You will need to change how you process or interpret thoughts to improve what is happening in your life. If you don't believe better is possible, you receive more of the same. To move toward a new way of thinking, you must let go of the power you give the past. Start with being mindful of how your past is controlling your current thinking. Believe that no matter where you have been, you decide how far you can go. Nothing behind you can affect what is in front of you.
Only you can understand yourself and what you can create.
Understanding is the truth you stand "under." It is your version of the truth of what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen. It is your version of your past, present, and future. If your way is not working, it may be time to recognize your truth differently. Work at being mindful of your daily motivations and influences. Once you know who you are, you can change how you process. Only you can break the cycle of what's happening in your life. The next time you have a thought that influences an undesired reaction, take a moment to go deeper. Ask yourself, where is this thought coming from? Is this thought reactive or active? The answer is the key to removing limiting beliefs. Remember, you are the creator of what comes next.
Change what you create by speaking, believing, and then creating it.
Until next time!
- Teresa at CommandingLife.com
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