Next Steps - Growing

Hindsight is 20/20 Life Vision – RELEASE

Women hindsight in rear view mirror
“Hindsight is 20/20”,  I’ve heard that phrase all my life but LIVING it…well that’s a whole different matter.  RELEASE yourself from your past.

Seeing your situation from the present perspective brings a level of clarity that you could not have had while you’re going through it.  Once you’re out of the heat of emotion, you can see clearly where you stood, the “truth” in the situation and the opportunity, that was clouded by panic, anger, fear and hurt.  You just weren’t able to see it at the time.  Information and clarity of what was REALLY happening was never as clear in the past as it is looking back on it from today.

It would have been GREAT to know what you know now in the midst of your past situation but wisdom only comes with experience…and is evident in hindsight.

That being said, you can’t go back with the wisdom you’ve gained to do it differently…you wouldn’t have your wisdom yet and life rarely offers “do-overs” anyway.  How you feel about it in hindsight can range from relief to regret to anger. No matter which emotion you have, what you do NEXT is most important…Release.

Regret, Anger, Pain
Living with regret, anger or pain is not healthy.  Each one can overwhelm you.  It can zap you of all your energy and keep your mind occupied with the past not the present.  You can’t change the past no matter how badly you want to BUT you can change tomorrow with the wisdom you’re learned from yesterday.  Take from your 20/20 vision the value and wisdom that your experience taught you and apply it today and tomorrow and all the future tomorrows so that whatever regret, anger or pain you have is channeled so you can be different, better as you move forward.

Here’s my advice
Write down the situation, your regret, anger or pain in the situation and what you would have rather done if you had a “do-over” opportunity.  Once it’s all written down, at the end, write or type R E L E A S E D!.  This is HUGELY important.  What you’ve just done is the most valuable action you can take.  You’ve acknowledged your situation, your actions in the situations, your intention to handle the situation differently with the wisdom you gained from hindsight and most importantly, RELEASED yourself from the regret, anger or pain of the situation. 

Momma used to always say,

“You can’t ‘”pay for” or be “punished” for a mistake your whole life.  At some point you need to move forward”.  You can’t stop and stay in the pain from yesterday or you’ll will miss the joy of today.” 

If folks can’t forgive you, that’s their burden to carry.  You have to forgive yourself and release yourself from the situation so you can apply the wisdom you gained to the rest of your life.  You can’t keep your pain in your present.  You need to move your pain to the back…to the past… to make room for new experiences that bring your joy, peace and happiness. Regret, anger or pain cannot occupy the front seat.  It has to move to the back, to the trunk, and at some point dropped by the side of the road as you keep moving forward to ALL that life has in store for you. 

Focus on the present, what’s happening now.  You can’t navigate forward while looking in the rear view mirror. 

Remember you are R E L E A S E D.

Pamela Burks with signature

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