How much time do you spend thinking about the future? How much time do you spend thinking about the past? When you think about past or future, is it with gloom and anxiety, or do you relish in the memory of past pleasures and look hopefully towards the future?
A major source of hopelessness is the assumption that whatever was will continue to be. Damaging patterns and situations will never change. After all, you’ve tried to change, and everything stayed the same. What better proof is there than that?
A very powerful tool in creating a hopeful attitude is to only look forward, and not back. At any point in time, you can start again, now.
You have the wisdom of all of your experience in your hand. You know what didn’t work before, so there is no use in going down that path again. There are many ways to get there. Whatever goal you’re aiming for, and whatever you want to resolve, there is something new you can try.
The very consciousness of a new beginning is invigorating. Starting a new project is always exciting. Later, when you get bogged down in the details, you get deflated. In spite of your failures, you can tell yourself that this is a new start.
Telling yourself that you’re beginning anew is not a pretense. It is a new start. Your expectations are the only thing making it feel old. You expected what you were doing before to work out and it didn’t.
In the process, you’ve gained much wisdom. You know what happens when you do what you did before. You know what was useless, what action caused which reaction and which things made a difference but it requires more practice and persistence from you to bring tangible results.
In addition to all of the understanding you’ve gained, the attitude that you’re starting from fresh is uplifting. Every move you make is a step down a new path. Life is an adventure. Don’t ever look back, except to learn from your mistakes. Life moves on. If you want to be alive, you’ve got to move on with it.