Travel light. Let go of pain. Forgive. Let go of the past. It does not exist, except in your thoughts. It can only hurt you if you let it. Look ahead, for that is the only place where you can still have some influence beginning with how you manage each present moment as it unfolds.

Begin each day with a clean slate. Wash away the anger, guilt, regret, hurt, worry from days before. They’ve had their chance, they’ve taken their toll. Do not forget the lessons you learned from those troubles but let that be all you carry forward from those experiences.

Allow yourself the freedom and release that come from leaving your pain behind you. Allow yourself to release all dwelling and miserable thoughts. Replace them with what you desire, how you plan to be, how you are healed and healing, changed and changing, how much stronger and wiser you are and will be.

One sad truth is that there are few aspects of your life that you can control. One of the most important is your thoughts. Yes. You really can. But only if you’re willing to make the effort.

Imagine you’re on your deathbed.

You’re reflecting on your life. The sand has almost run out of your hourglass. Are you going to remember fondly all the time you spent dwelling, regretting, agonising, and worrying? Are you going to consider any of that as having been time well spent?

When you’re running out of minutes — and that day is surely going to come — you will wish you’d spent all the previous minutes as wisely and lovingly as possible. You will wish you had not wasted a single precious moment on harbouring any negativity, whether it was directed at yourself or someone else. You’ll see how it tainted your life with toxic black sludge and you will wish you had let every bit of it go.

So do it now and save yourself that grief at the end of your life.

Forgive yourself.

You must be at peace with yourself to have authentic power, and to be truly happy. If there are parts of yourself that trouble you, change what you can, apologise where you should, forgive others, forgive yourself and let it all go.

There is more healing in offering an apology than in countless hours in a therapist’s office. If you know you owe an apology to someone, give it. Even if the person has moved, disappeared, died — do it on paper, in your mind or in your heart. Offer it anyway. The Universe will receive your healing message and deliver it in its own way. It’s a huge step toward your finding peace.

Be sure to apologise to yourself for beating yourself up, for negative self-talk, self-destructive behaviour, regrets and guilt.

And then, remember that an apology means you’re honestly not intending to do the offending “thing” again — so don’t go sliding back into another avalanche of regret and hurting yourself with nasty thoughts.

Strive for purity of heart and mind by emptying them of negative, destructive and hurtful thoughts, whether directed at yourself or anyone else. This will keep you connected to your Higher Self, which will help you to make the best choices on your path to a happy and fulfilled life.

And remember: No matter what the past holds, every moment is a chance to begin again.

Spiritual Arts Mentor and Master Teacher, Liberty Forrest, guides you in discovering who you are, why you’re here, and how to follow that path.

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