Don't Look Back

I've noticed this tendency in my clients, and myself, to look at past events and say, "Oh, if that would only have gone this way," or "if this had not happened," or "if I'd only known..." But to say this is to miss the point -- we aren't supposed to know! The art of living --the fun of it all -- is in the learning as we go along. In fact, when we spend time lamenting the past, we have stopped moving forward. Consider this quote by Alexander Graham Bell, "When one door closes another opens. But we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we fail to see the one that has opened for us." So every time we look back, we stop the flow of abundance to us. Our work is to look for the positive aspects of all that happens to us. Why? Well first, because when your focus is on what went wrong you are attracting more of that. It's like taking one step forward and two steps back. And secondly, because you never know exactly how the Universe is delivering your good to you. If you bless everything that happens, you are bound to hit upon the one thing that is, in fact, the next step to what you have been praying for!

There is an old fable to illustrate this point:

There was an old Chinese farmer who had only one horse, and one day the horse ran away. The neighbors came to console him over his terrible loss. The farmer said, “Good thing, bad thing, I don’t know”
A month later, the horse came home--this time bringing with her two beautiful wild horses. The neighbors became excited at the farmer's good fortune. Such lovely strong horses! The farmer said, “Good thing, bad thing, I don’t know.”
The farmer's son was thrown from one of the wild horses and broke his leg. All the neighbors were very distressed. Such bad luck! The farmer said, “Good thing, bad thing, I don’t know.”
A war came, and every able-bodied man was conscripted and sent into battle. Only the farmer's son, because he had a broken leg, remained. The neighbors congratulated the farmer. “Good thing, bad thing, I don’t know,” said the farmer.

So you see, you never know which seemingly regrettable event is really bringing you a great boon. Bless them all and place your attention firmly back to your future and what you want to transpire. As Micheal Beckwith put it, "Energy flows where attention goes."

Here's some things to say when you are tempted to lament past events:
1) Something good will come out of that.
2) Hmm. That was interesting.
3) I refuse to give my attention to that; I'm going to look ahead.
4) I bless that situation and everyone in it.

Say it and let it go. This is such a vital habit to develop if you want a truly prosperous life. Do you?