Letting Go Of The Past Is Needed To Move To The Future

Letting go of the past is hard. The territory is familiar and the situations controllable. Even if the situations were out-of-control, at least there was some control in knowing what to expect from yourself and others emotionally.

Now you're walking a new path and things are different. The terrain has changed and nothing is familiar. What happened to the comfort you used to know, even if you were uncomfortable in your own skin because you were playing a part to fit in or blend with the crowd? What happened to the friendship, the fellowship, the camaraderie? Have things changed so much in you until you're unfamiliar to friends and loved ones and they're unfamiliar to you?

This is all a part of the process of change. When a seed grows, it looks different as a plant or a tree compared to when it was a seed. When a caterpillar enters its cocoon, it looks different when it emerges as a butterfly. When a baby is born, he or she continues to look different as they mature into adulthood.

What does this have to do with letting go of the past? Holding on to past emotions, questions, joys, and heartaches will prevent or stunt your future growth. The questions of what if--"What if I fail?", "What if I let go of the relationship and the person becomes the person I always envisioned them to be? Then what?", "What if it's arrogance and pride that's pushing me forward instead of an aching need to change?", "What if others are right about that what I'm doing is crazy?"--will haunt you, and nag you, and keep you from moving forward. These questions, the conflicting and swirling emotions, and the heartaches will cause you to become stuck because you don't really want to go back to where you were but you're too concerned or scared to move forward.

The same holds for past joys that you're trying to recreate in your present life. The problem is you were a different person, and not all past joys will feel the same for the person you've become. When you were a baby, you enjoyed baby food in a jar. Now that you're older, the stuff is quite tasteless.

It's time to let go of everything that you're holding onto that is preventing you from moving forward. There's a quote by Anais Nin that says, “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." You are no longer comfortable as a bud. It's time to blossom and bloom, but you can't move forward until you let go of your past.


"Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:7 GNB)

When You're Ready To Give Up

Two quotes from businessman Ross Perot:

“Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.”

“Something in human nature causes us to start slacking off at our moment of greatest accomplishment. As you become successful, you will need a great deal of self-discipline not to lose your sense of balance, humility, and commitment.”


"Abraham believed and hoped, even when there was no reason for hoping, and so became 'the father of many nations.' Just as the scripture says, 'Your descendants will be as many as the stars.' He was then almost one hundred years old; but his faith did not weaken when he thought of his body, which was already practically dead, or of the fact that Sarah could not have children...He was absolutely sure that God would be able to do what he had promised." (Romans 4:18-19, 21 GNB)

And Still We Wait

Do you feel as if your life is on hold? Click to read this article by Daniel Darling titled

Why Waiting Is Really Trusting


"For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth:" (Ecclesiastes 3:1 .NET Bible)

What's Holding You Back?

The following is from the blog for The Innovative Marketplace Christian. These principles can be applied to both those who do or do not believe in Christ.
(Click on the link below for the complete article.)

Breaking the Mold Before It Breaks You...Key #1 - Identity

God is Looking for a Return from Your Life

If you don’t believe God is looking for a return, you haven’t really understood your Bible.

Try sitting around and doing nothing for a while, waiting for something to happen. Try simply existing and doing a half-baked job at whatever you do. See how you dreadful you feel in a short time. That’s because you were never designed to be unproductive or underachieving. God has programmed you to feel uncomfortable in places you don’t belong.

It is simply un-Biblical to be unproductive or an ‘under-producer’.

What’s Holding You Back?

Because He loves you and knows that you will be exhilarated by the journey of a life well lived, He doesn’t want you to be limited by fear, inferiority and underachievement. In order to fulfill your calling, you must develop a right view of yourself as a child of God or you will end up limiting yourself with your own thoughts, just like the children of Israel almost did. Thank God for Joshua and Caleb who knew how to observe things from God’s perspective. We need more people like that in the marketplace these days.

The Key of Identity is the key of knowing both who you are and who God is.

We briefly touched on this in the introduction, but it’s worth hearing again. As one of those precious ones that God has called into the marketplace (as opposed to full time church ministry), you are not a second class citizen in the Kingdom of God.

You are a called, gifted, significant, frontline worker whom God dearly loves.

No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Permission

Please allow this statement fill your heart. Otherwise, a sense of inferiority will subtly begin to attach itself to you and grow over time, eventually limiting your life. This could even be affecting you right now more than you realize. Remember this, no one can make you feel inferior without your permission, so please don’t give that permission to anyone.

Like the song says, in terms of being you, “nobody does it better”.

You are called and chosen of God to fulfill a divine purpose that is especially designed for you. For most of you reading this article that calling will only be fulfilled in the marketplace. There is not another human being who can do at better job at your calling than you.

Don’t allow others with a different calling (even if they are leaders you look up to) make you feel like a second class citizen, like you need to be just like them or do things exactly the way that they do.

It takes effort, prayer, life experience and study to gain a right view of yourself and of who God is. (For some it is much more difficult because they have been more exposed to forces consistently pointing them to wrong conclusions about themselves and God.)

But once you do, you start gaining momentum on the road of life.
God is a Builder and He’s Building Something Out of Your Life! (1 Cor. 3:9)

There is no difference between the one who plants and the one who waters; God will reward each one according to the work each has done. (1 Cor. 3:8 GNB)

Trying Is One of the Hardest Things To Do

"Even if I don't reach all my goals, I've gone higher than I would have if I hadn't set any." ~Danielle Fotopoulos

As the title says, trying is one of the hardest things to do. There's the aspect of trying something new. Trying something new is hard because of the uncertainty of the unknown. What if I fail? Will I have the courage to try again in spite of the setback? What if I succeed? Will I have the courage and stamina needed to cope with newly gained popularity?

Then there's the aspect of trying to let go of the past. Trying to let go of guilt and shame experienced from past mistakes or failures. There's also trying to let go of a relationship(s) that you hold so dear, but the people in them no longer fill a need in your life (or you in theirs).

Finally there's the aspect of trying that creates loneliness. When trying new things or trying to let go of the past, sometimes you feel absolutely alone. There is no one else there experiencing these situations and the emotions they evoke with you. Yet, your loneliness is for a reason. It gives you time to think about you. What do you desire for your life? What are your hopes and goals? What can you do to push yourself forward into the next chapter in your life? Now, with nothing holding you back, what's stopping you from moving forward? What can you do to move past this mental roadblock?

Trying can be the hardest thing to do, but it's also the most liberating. By trying, you will find that you have more courage and strength than you previously felt you possessed. Also, the new knowledge that you've gained through trying has the ability to make you a better person.

Even though it may be hard, just try.


Below is an article on how to handle loneliness in between relationships. It's authored by Kim Olver.

Alone: Who are You?


My dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful test you are suffering, as though something unusual were happening to you. (1 Peter 4:12 GNB)