Last Updated February 2022 by Crystallace

Hey Girl!

If you’re reading this article you probably have some person or some experience on your mind that you just can’t seem to stop thinking about or move on from. And you’re probably asking yourself

Why can’t I let go of the past?

There are many reasons as to why you may feel like you just can’t figure out how to let go of the past. Maybe it’s something that you feel you never really got closure on or maybe some things went unsaid. Maybe you don’t know how to let go of the past trauma because it still effects you today.

We all have different experiences and memories in our lives, some good and some bad. But you realize that it’s time to let go of the hurtful things from your past because you can’t change them and that’s so true but, what you can do is learn from them. You can take those lessons, leave the pain behind and begin the process of moving forward.

Trust me, I get it. It’s something that you’ve finally recognized within yourself and you’re ready to move on from it and live a more positive life. But let me guess, every time you try to talk to someone about it they suggest going to therapy or they may even share their experience with therapy and how it helped them.

Is it just me or does it seem like all of a sudden all of your friends, family, and everybody on social media has access to therapy now? That’s great but therapy is not free and you may not be able to afford it. I have been there too, so in this blog post I am going to share what helped me on my journey of how to let go of the past.

Be sure to Pin 📌 this post so that you have it later.

***Disclosure I am not a therapist nor a mental health professional****

How to let go of the past and start moving forward

The first step to letting go of the past is to take a moment and be grateful for everything that you have in your life right now. Regardless of what you may feel that you’re missing, I am sure you can find something to be grateful for.

There are people that would love to have the life you’re living even with its challenges and difficulties. So know that regardless of what you are going through, it will pass. Think about it, at this moment, right now, you have survived all your worst days. You will survive the past hurts too.

You need to face whatever is holding on from your past head-on.

You can’t keep running away or distracting yourself from what’s bothering you; this won’t make the hurt go away but instead will cause more issues in the future. Do something about it today, this very moment. Accept what happened in your past and be forgiving of yourself and the other people that were involved.

Let go of everything that holds no value to you anymore, especially those things holding on to your energy and bringing no value to your life. I talk about this in another blog post, how clutter and items associated with bad experiences can bring negative energy in your home. You can check it out here.

Hurting and resenting about something in the past will never change anything; it will only hurt you more. But by letting go of that pain, you can finally look forward and focus on healing your mind, heart, and body.

At this point, know that whatever happened in your past has nothing to do with who you are today; it only has an effect on how far or how long you’ll take to learn and grow from the experience.

You will never heal your past if you don’t let go of it. Right now is a good time to start, so don’t wait for a better tomorrow or when things get worse; be proactive about healing all aspects of your life now for a better future ahead.

Here are some…

How to let go of the past quotes

Exercises to help you let go of the past

One technique you can use to let go of the past is writing down every hurtful and negative thought or experience that you’ve had. How far back it goes doesn’t matter; write it all down, including the names of people that hurt you and why.

Then, close your eyes and breathe deeply for a few minutes, clearing your mind.

When you’re ready to begin, read what you have written and imagine yourself walking away from every bad experience in your life with love in your heart.

Then, rip up the paper into tiny pieces and throw them away. When you’re doing this emotional exercise, remember to be as specific as possible with your hurt, and don’t hold back anything from your feelings. Cry if you want, scream if you need to. It’s a good way to get things out of your system that may have been bothering you for a while.

Light some candles, take a shower, and play some music that resembles how you are feeling while you do this. This is a purge.

The next step is to

How to let go of the past and Forgive yourself

A lot of people find this to be the hardest part of moving on and perosnally I believe that is because they skip an important step and that is to take accountability for their actions.

In order to forgive yourself you have to take accountability of the role you played in whatever it is that hurt you. Whether it was expecting too much from someone, ignoring red flags, or being naive. Identify where you went wrong.

If you are having a trouble doing that, ask yourself “What would I have done differently, if I could do it all over again?” Then take accountability for doing that. Whatever the reason may be for why you didn’t do it, even if it is something like immaturity, own it. YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE.

Once you accept accountability for your actions, you can then forgive yourself.

Tell yourself “I messed up but I am going to forgive myself, move on and, make sure I never do that again.”

How to let go of the past mistakes and forgive others

When it comes to forgiving others, it takes time but the quicker you forgive, the easier things become. People make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes are so big that they hurt the other person in ways we can’t even understand.

But instead of keeping yourself stuck in the past, forgive yourself for the hurt you’ve caused other people and forgive the people that hurt you and move on with your life. Maybe they didn’t mean to hurt you or maybe they did.

What matters now is that holding onto that hurt is continuing to cause pain in your life.

Forgiveness does not eradicate blame. It frees you to move on and heal.

Another way to let go of your past is by looking at it as a lesson that taught you valuable things like how to deal with a situation or a type of person better the next time around. These lessons help you understand what you want in life.

You might have made mistakes about what you wanted and needed in the past but now you know for sure. When you acted in the past, you were doing what you thought was right or what you believe you wanted to do. Now, you can see any mistakes you made, whether purposefully or not. Reflecting on this can show you where you need to start your healing process.

Focus on the future

The short answer to “How to let go of the past?” Is to focus on the future. The future can be a better time for you because it’s a chance for you to start fresh.

Right now, you are exactly where you need to be. Everything that happens in life is meant to happen as a part of your journey and your journey is just that, yours. Every day, we get closer to our goal of happiness but there is no way to ever be truly happy if you are always thinking about the past.

Remember, forgive yourself first, and by doing so you’ll be able to forgive others. Even when you’ve reached that forgiveness and let go of your hurt, embrace being grateful for all the lessons in your life that brought you to where you are today.

Write down what you want out of life right now on sticky notes and put them all over your space. Manifest the happiness you want in your life. Here are some motivational quotes to Pin📌 for later so that you have them for inspiration.

BTW, are you following me on socials? Let’s keep in touch! I’m on Pinterest, IG, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok

Now you know how to let go of the past, live in the moment, and stop allowing the past to rob you of a better today.

This is a safe space. What in the past are you holding on to? Let me know in the comments.