Do you live with inner demons? Is there something you did in the past that haunts you day in and day out? Do these demons control your life and control who you are? Well, they do not have to. There is nothing in the past that can affect you unless YOU ALLOW it to. There is nothing that can DEFINE who you really are OR who you want to be unless YOU ALLOW it to.

Too often, we live with guilt and regret over things we have said and done. We allow these feelings to control our entire lives. We live with self-criticism and at times loath ourselves. For some the guilt and pain of the past causes feelings of unworthiness. This will cause you to push against anything or anyone good that comes into your life. You will destroy happiness and love because you do not feel worthy of it. There are others, who will engage in self-sabotaging behaviors such as addictions in an effort to numb their thoughts and feelings. For many, it is a non-ending cycle of suffering because of the choice to hang onto the past. Yes, hanging onto the past is YOUR choice.
Most of us at one time or another has done something we consider being wrong or bad. Others have committed acts of violent crimes. Regardless of what it was that you have done, if you HONESTLY want to move away from it, out of your past, you must find a way to forgive yourself, for if you cannot find forgiveness in yourself, you will never be able to move forward.

Forgiveness toward ourselves is not always easy because we have to look in the mirror and like what we see. We have to see who we are, not the demons that live inside of us. We have to come to terms with that which we did but we also have to accept it and ACCEPT OURSELVES for the same. Forgiving and accepting yourself does not make what you did “right” it just RELEASES you from the past so that you can start living in the present moment. Once you are in the present moment, your feelings of guilt, regret, and unworthiness will start to disappear faster than you can imagine. When you live in the NOW how can you be what you once did? You can’t because what happened in the past is not happening right now.

For many, negative thinking HABITS get in the way of moving forward and of feeling better. This is when learning how to control your thoughts and PRACTICING positive thinking comes in handy. Whenever you find yourself thinking a negative thought, immediately change it to something pleasant. It does not matter what that thought is, as long as it makes YOU FEEL GOOD. Hold onto that thought for at least a minute or two. When you do this, you will feel a shift in your vibration creating another pleasant thought that will pop in your head.

Meditation is also an extremely valuable “practice” because the “freeing of the mind” creates the connection to your inner-being, which will release your mind of all its clutter, trash, and negativity. It will also increase your awareness of the present moment, release resistance, and reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. It will promote relaxation, inner peace and enhance your own personal and spiritual growth.

If you struggle with worthiness, do things for other people. It does not matter what it is, how big or how small, but just helping someone else out will promote feelings of “goodness” inside yourself. Sometimes it is easier for us to be kinder to others than to ourselves and in doing so, it makes US feel GOOD as well.

The bottom line is, is that you have a choice to live with your demons or to let them go. The only excuse you have are the ones you make up yourself. If you truly want to let go of your past and move forward, then do what you KNOW you have to do. Just remember that every moment you have is a chance to make your life better or worse. It does not matter if you did something wrong five minutes ago, it is now in the past, and you now have the choice to do it again or to be who you really want to be. If it is fear holding you back, then ask yourself how bad could it be? How bad could it be to forgive, forget, and move forward? It can’t be any worse than it is now, now can it?

You are not what you have done you are who you choose to be.

Author's Bio: 

Cindy is a Personal Development Life Coach. Her knowledge and expertise comes from 20 years of study, personal life experiences, and from working as a community volunteer and mentor. Cindy coaches people towards finding their own personal power through inner awareness; guiding them along their own unique path toward true happiness and life fulfillment. To learn more about Cindy go to www.cindy-ortiz.com. Personal Blog go to www.leaplikeafrog.com