It sounds so cliche..."let go of the old, release the past"...we hear it a lot these days, though it's a theme that's present in every great and age-old religion. But, in order to release the past, we must first be aware of the places we are holding onto it and storing it.

"Recognizing what we have done in the past is a recognition of ourselves. By conducting a dialogue with our past, we are searching how to go forward." -Kiyoko Takeda

There are so many places where we store the past...

-In our bodies, especially the hips, shoulders, stomach and heart center...
-In our minds with memories, the ones we're fond of and not so fond of...
-In our homes, attics, closets and other "toss it or leave it" in their places...
-In our offices and even our cars
-And yes, on our computers...
(I'm sure there are more...I'd love to know where you hold onto the past.)

"Living in the past is a dull and lonely business; looking back strains the neck muscles, causes you to bump into people not going your way." - Edna Ferber

Last night, I decided to begin cleaning out the hard drive of my computer, it was acting a little slow and I've been "meaning" to do this for quite some time. As I was going through it...

I couldn't believe the articles and documents I found...words I had written down and meant to communicate to someone...but never did, stuff I never should've kept in the first place-but saved, thinking I would one day "need" it, memories of events in my life I had written about and tucked deeply away-nearly forgetting, and many others...

It really felt liberating to clean out the old and make room for the new. As the New Year approaches, are there places in your life that could use a cleaning out? Maybe even those places you wouldn't normally think about because it seems to work fine the way it is...but, in actuality, may be congesting the flow of energy and information into your life? Cleaning out our memory, by going through the past, whether it's in our bodies, closet, or computer's hard drive, can create a tremendous amount of freedom in our heart and mind.

And, as you let go of the old, honor it for its place in your life, and then release it and give thanks for it, even for those memories you might wish you didn't have. They too, have served you.

"The more I give myself permission to live in the moment and enjoy it without feeling guilty or judgmental about any other time, the better I feel about the quality of my work." - Wayne Dyer

Perhaps if we spent less time storing information, and more time releasing it, we'd have lighter, more energized bodies, minds, spirits and more space in our hearts to allow good to flow into our lives...

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn the past, not to worry about the future, nor to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly." - Buddha

"The good old days were never that good, believe me. The good new days are today, and better days are coming tomorrow. Our greatest songs are still unsung." - Hubert H. HumphreyRead more