Start where you are

To re-create the past means dismissing all the experiences and changes we have undergone in the interim. Attempting to revisit past circumstances would mean leaving a part of who we are unacknowledged and uncelebrated.

by Andrea Hess — 

We often use our past as a frame of reference. We may feel like we’ve lost something we once had — a fortune, a career, even our sense of well-being. We wish we could get back to being less stressed, having more financial freedom or a healthier body. So we try the same stress-management strategies, diet or financial plan that worked for us in the past, only to encounter a remarkable lack of success this time.

The truth is that we cannot move toward our goals by re-creating the past. In order to create true change, we must first embrace and acknowledge the present. To re-create the past means dismissing all the experiences and changes we have undergone in the interim. Attempting to revisit past circumstances would mean leaving a part of who we are unacknowledged and uncelebrated.

When we undertake an effort toward a new state of health, financial abundance or career fulfillment, we must first embrace the journey that brought us to this present moment. So maybe our waistline has expanded or our bank account has dwindled, but what have we learned? How have we grown?

As time has passed, we have utterly and irreversibly changed. Perhaps the change was for the better, or perhaps — in our perception — for the worse. Either way, we are no longer the same person. So it stands to reason that in order to move forward, we must embrace who we are now, in all our present circumstances. We cannot go back. And, if given that opportunity, would we really want to?

We shortchange ourselves of the joy of discovery and exploration if we attempt to again take a path we’ve trodden before. We encounter only frustration when we try to take a previous road from a different starting point. Why not go somewhere completely new and different, rather than somewhere we have already been? Why not cultivate a “beginner’s mind” and allow ourselves a path of new experiences, new insight, and new growth?

Let us start right where we stand, embracing the present and acknowledging all that we are today.

Andrea Hess is an intuitive consultant who assists spiritual seekers in clearing energetic blocks and restrictions to fully align with their life purpose. www.andreahess.com, [email protected] or 480-922-4905.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 25, Number 6, December 2006/January 2007.