“Learn from the past, set vivid detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.” – Denis Waitley

Throughout the month of February iGnite hosted several nutrition and wellness workshops followed by goal-setting workshops that supported the nutrition/wellness initiatives. Our time, as always, was rewarding and fulfilling, as anytime we have the opportunity to encourage health and offer ways to improve overall quality of life, is time well spent. Inevitably, I always have ah-ha moments and learn something new about myself and the human psyche.

As a result of the goals workshops led by Catherine, which I participated in, my ah-ha moment was how much time I spend stuck in the past. For example, when thinking about improving my health, the goal of getting additional exercise always comes to mind. Then, as I begin the process of determining how I will go about achieving this goal, I always find myself reaching into my “past pocket” and reliving my exercise life when I wasn’t pregnant, didn’t have a toddler and had fewer work responsibilities, which enabled me to exercise unlimited hours each week. This way of thinking is always frustrating, as achieving what once was a simple feat is now complicated. Therefore, there is paralysis, no action and no positive change.

My epiphany is that if I continue to try to fit a square peg into a round hole — i.e. try to fit my past life into my current life — I will never make progress. Instead, I must be honest with myself and my current life state and set practical and achievable goals, which even though they feel underachieving and even unsatisfying, it is definitely better than nothing. What once worked may no longer be applicable, and that’s okay.

Completely letting go of the past and living life for the now is very difficult, especially if the past was higher-achieving, healthier, happier or easier, which is something we’ve all experienced.  Living in the past provides no value to our current life; it sets us up for ongoing failure and frustration, deprives us from enjoying the present and gets us nowhere. Therefore, with health, happiness and continual growth and positive life change consistently being the goal, the best thing we can do with our past is learn from it, celebrate it and move onward and upward!

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Point To Ponder:
What area or time of your life do you find yourself stuck in, trying to relive or wishing you could have back?

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Action Item:
Identify an area in your life that you want to improve and realize that on a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the greatest improvement possible), even a 1 is progress, and all steps are significant.

By Neissa