“As this New Year begins, I focus on my life--where I have been and where I see myself going. I review my accomplishments and mistakes with honesty. What am I most proud of? What do I want to change and how? I begin by accepting my current circumstances honestly. Each New Year brings unlimited possibilities to write a new story. I am true to myself and focus on what is really important. From this awareness, I create an authentic life that reflects who I really am. I am unique and my life is unique. I am creator, director, and writer of my story, and I direct it in a way that brings the greatest joy for myself and others. As I live authentically, I enjoy a life of well-being and love.” -Unity Daily Word (January/February 2015)
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Statement #9, “The past is gone forever.”
No longer will I be victimized by the past. I am a new person.
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With the holidays over and the new year in motion, it is time for me to shift focus and examine where I am in this moment. Is there something that I am clinging to? Is there anything that I need to release? Am I repeating any self-defeating behaviors? Answering these questions and more, with honesty, I am able to begin the process of letting go and putting Statement #9 into action.
Letting go of the past allows me to experience and enjoy the present. While under the influence, I was unable to do this; I clung to most anything from past hurts to past drama…especially the past drama. Sobriety, and the subsequent growth, enables me to unhinge from unhealthy choices and write a new beginning.
Here are some ways to release the past, plan for tomorrow and live for today, as our WFS Mission Statement reads.
1. Focus and affirm that you want to move forward. Have you ever kept writing the past year in your checkbook? It can take some time to realize that it is a new day or new year. Acknowledge where you are right now and decide you are moving on.
2. Dare to dream and go for the goals. Someone once said that “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” Every day give yourself the gift of dreams, deadlines and goals. What would you like to accomplish or experience this week, month, or year? By focusing on where I would like to go, I direct my mind forward instead of becoming or staying stuck in the past.
3. Apply forgiveness. Letting myself or someone else off the hook does not mean that the experience that I am upset about is erased; instead, it means that I will no longer allow it to control me. Understanding and peace of mind can blossom with forgiveness.
4. Be an observer. Approaching a person, experience or feeling with the eyes and mind of an observer gives me a fresh and different perspective. I may be clinging to what I think is true but I can inspect each aspect with different views. It may be that I need to step back, or I may need to move closer. Either way, a new angle is a way to be present.
5. Affirm that this is the moment. This moment is all there ever is. Yesterday will always be yesterday, tomorrow will always be tomorrow and the moment is now. Live, grow and experience life in the present.
- Is there something that you are clinging to?
- How do you embrace the present?
Hugzzz, Karen
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Hi 4C Women,
This message is powerful and a great guide for how we approach the New Year. Dr. Phil has made this year one that is dedicated to tearing down the barriers of fear, unraveling the lie we tell ourselves about who we are, why we do what we do and don’t do what we don’t do, or settle for what we settle for; to start to deal with the absolute, unmitigated truth in each and every aspect of our lives.
When he said we do what we do because it feeds a need and there is a truth we don’t want to face, I cringed as I thought about this past year and health concerns I put on the back burner because of my fear of not being available to my daughter if she needed me. Fortunately, the WFS program taught me how to live an authentic life; yet, I needed this reminder that life is not stagnant. It changes constantly. What was perhaps my truth or “why lie” this past year required a second look.
Have you ever had an exchange with someone who just tore you to pieces to the point that you shut down and heard nothing? I’ve had quite a few of those conversations in my life. It took a long time to hear the truth within the “garbage.” I learned to throw out the garbage and work on the truth. For the truth produces change if we let go of the fear of change.
Karen’s question about clinging to something, repeating self-defeating behaviors is a huge part of my “why lie.” The past is gone forever, a new year is open to us if we are willing to face our fears, to change and dig deeper into our “why lie.” -Dee
Women for Sobriety, Inc.
