Don't let the emotions of your past write the songs of your future

​Without being aware of it, we are often singing songs written by the emotions of our past.

Maybe we're watching a movie that makes us unexpectedly sad or emotional. Chances are it wasn't that particular scene at all, but the movie drawing on emotional scenes from our past.

Maybe someone says something to us that makes us feel like we haven't measured up. It's possible they didn't say anything demeaning at all, we were simply triggered by our lifelong battle to measure up.

Maybe we're afraid to draw close to people. And that fear has nothing to do with the people we're afraid to draw close to, but more so the people in our past who made people something to fear.

We often hear about the power of being in tune with our emotions. Part of that tuning is realizing some emotions have nothing to do with the here and now. They are emotions that have become a part of us and insist on being a part of every waking moment of our lives.

And for some of us, even our sleeping moments.

Sometimes it's helpful in life to ask, where are these emotions coming from? It's helpful to pause and to reflect and determine, the emotions of this moment don't make sense for this particular moment.

This person in front of me is not out to get me. Why do I feel like this person in front of me is out to get me?

Sometimes, maybe even often, the emotions of our past are writing songs about our future. They want us to sing them. They insist on being the soundtrack for every moment of the rest of our lives.

There is power in discovering that. There is power in saying, I am not going to sing that song you have written. In fact, I am crumbling that one into a big rejected ball and throwing it into the trash.

Life is hard enough singing the emotions of the life we have without our songs being contaminated by the music of our past.

It starts with knowing that. Knowing that not all emotions we feel right now are right now emotions. They are squatters living in the basement of our brains.

Sometimes it's as simple as saying you don't belong here anymore. I need you to leave.

Sometimes it's prayer or meditation that can quiet the mind and let emotions attach to the proper time zones in your life.

Sometimes it's helpful to talk with a friend. Or a counselor. People you can express these emotions to who can help you come to see you are actually in tune with emotions of your past and not emotions of this moment.

However you get there, it's helpful to get there. To get to a place of knowing my emotions write a lot of songs, but I don't have to sing them all.

In fact, many of us are in great pain because we are TRYING to sing them all.

Life is always best when we sing the emotions of right now. Don't let the emotions of your past convince you otherwise.