Daily Mindfulness 10/12/12 – Leaving the Past Behind

The term mindfulness is associated most commonly with staying in the present moment and being aware of ourselves and the world around us.  Practicing mindfulness, we stay away from regretting the past.  We may have a tendency to look at our actions of the recent or distant past and play the “shoulda, woulda, coulda” game.  We judge ourselves, think what we could have done better, and may get stuck in the past.  When we are stuck in the past, we lose out on the present moment.

To focus on the present moment and not get lost in the past, we must touch this moment deeply.  When we begin to think of the past with remorse or judgement, we must find a way to come back to right now.  We may catch ourselves in the past, but not be able to fully bring ourselves back to the moment.  We may do this by looking with compassion at the past, forgiving ourselves and others for not having the tools at the time to handle the situation any better.  We bring ourselves back into the present moment, and may look for a way to take action right now to learn from our past, and help others with it.