Breaking Free From the Past
One of the hardest challenges of my lifetime has been dealing with a constant nagging feeling that is almost always there, it is the past.
I am not talking so much about the experiences of the past, as I am the connection that I had with my heritage – the world of commercial fishing. The precepts have been firmly in place for decades. I almost fear to say this for the fear it may slip away, but I have found a new place in my life for these past thoughts and the perpetual tugging that draws me to go back to the sea.
I admit, I love it at sea. It is a part of my life that will never go away. Many of you also have a desire or a family connection to some type of heritage or business that you were raised in. It may not even be a business. It could be an expectation that was placed upon you as a child or from a previous life experience; that you needed to do certain things or act a certain way. We were all conditioned by our past. This can be part of the reason why you cannot grow and move on to what you desire the most in your life.
Many people will let their past dominate their current life situation. Whether you are going through a problem with your relationship, your work, your business or your health, your emotional memories will continue to be revived, being fed by your thoughts.
Most people will let this state of mind dominate themselves to the point where the thoughts will actually become their self… who they are.
Most people have mental and emotional baggage that they carry with them and it keeps them from expanding their horizons. It will perpetuate disease, unhealthiness, their financial situation, and it will actually be the silent enemy that is unseen to many. The enemy that will keep them from their wildest dreams.
I look at the conditioning of my past growing up in a fishing family as a hindrance at times, and other times I see it as a blessing. I learned how to work hard and how important it is not to give up and the success that perseverance brings. I learned that there is a place on this planet so beautiful with so much nature and wildlife, that is is hard to compare to being on land.
The hinderance is that to be at sea was a wonderful life, and I miss it. There was always an income source attached to fishing that at times was very lucrative. The excitement of catching fish and the power of the storms, the beautiful sunsets will always call to me. Sometimes when I am on land and I am dealing with land based problems, such as traffic, angry people, politics and many other situations that can’t really change, it will remind me of the simplicity of a life that I will always miss.
On the other hand, I know that I am destined to do other things. There is a calling inside of me that is so deep that I cannot seem to get it out of my mind or system. I am called to help others. I first realized this when I was speaking and giving seminars as a mortgage professional.
It has taken me years to see with great clarity that I can have the life that I desire. I can do whatever it is I want to do in my lifetime. I now know that I can go back to sea at any time in my life. It is always there. What had to happen was the awareness and the realization that anyone’s opinion about me, anyone’s thoughts or suggestions about what I am doing, and any thoughts that I have about the past need to be tabled. They need to be put in a special place that is not in front of me, but behind me.
Often times people around you will try and give you advice that is well intended. The problem is that they are seeing your life through their lens, their interpretation of what and how you should be. If you have depended on their input for most of your life, it will be very hard to not listen to them. In fact, it may bring up emotions that will derail you from your goals.
When you grow or make changes, many people will not like that. They look at you and how you are changing and it reflects back on them and make them look at themselves. Some people feel uncomfortable because it takes them out of their comfort zone.
You will need to come to a place of self reliance, a place where you are depending on your faith and your connection with your spirituality. Only with this connection will you be able to quiet the enemy and hold him at bay.
You need to find strength in your relationship with God and be grounded in the present moment. This is where the desire and the passion of future things lie. Not in the past.