Have You Ever Wanted to Break Free From Your Past? Pura Vida Your Life

Have You Ever Wanted to Break Free From Your Past?

If you’ve ever sat down to write a letter when you’re mad or upset, then you’ll know the experience can be cathartic. It’s the same when you address the letter to yourself, your younger self, especially if you feel like you want to break free from your past.

What I have come to learn is, don’t let the past control your present. If you hold onto things that upset you, even something you’ve done to yourself, it can create a cloud of negativity that follows you around for years. It can impair your judgement and decision making, holding you back from allowing you to live your greatest life. Like it did with me; my past developed into the dark shadows of anxiety and depression that plagued my life.

Instead, face the past head-on by writing a letter to your younger self, just like mine below.

“Let go of the past but keep the lessons it taught you”
A letter to my younger self – from 50-year-old Rachel to 10-year-old Rachel…
Dear Rachel
You’re only 10 years old and about to embark on your next journey to Secondary School and into your teens; taking the path from childhood into adult life. Gaining a sense of responsibility and freedom. Setting the course for the rest of your life, where you will make decisions that will change the course of your life. I know this may sound scary at 10-years-old, but I want you to know that you have the courage and strength to choose the right path, and to not worry about getting it right or
wrong. Just know that life is a divine plan and things will work out just as they are meant to.

Although I have to be honest, there are some things I wish you would have done differently. If you had only known then what you know now at 50-years-old, and that’s why I’m writing to you!

For your first 10 years, you wanted the time to fly by and to move quickly onto the next chapter. Now I wish the years would slow down.

I know that you have not been treated kindly by some people around you, through your experiences at the hands of bullies from as young as 3-years-old, in life, at infant school and junior schools. Despite house and school moves, you didn’t escape this horrible and unjust treatment. I’m sorry to say that you will continue to come across people in secondary school, workplaces, and throughout your life, that will want to torment you and put you down, push you around, but this is not your fault,
it really isn’t. It’s more about them than you. Send them love, forgiveness and kindness, wish them consciousness.

So my advice is to ignore them and don’t allow them to put you off building your education, building friendships and loving relationships. Don’t allow them to pull you back; don’t allow their evil nasty words to take away the amazing person that you are. You were bullied for being too sensitive, you
were bullied for being too vulnerable, for being too honest and too kind.

You started building walls to protect yourself, you’ve started guarding yourself, you’ve started to not allow people into your life. Not because you’re looking at them and thinking, “You might hurt me”, but because you honestly believe that you don’t deserve to be welcomed into other people’s lives. The problem with this is that you will not be open to all that life has to offer you, the love, abundance and fulfilment.

Know that you are worthy of being loved, to stand out in the crowd and be seen for who you are. To be and feel heard, I know that this might be hard to make sense of as you struggle to understand why some people act the way they do – don’t waste your time or energy focussing on this or trying to figure this out. Just know that you are an amazing person, you are loved, you are worthy, you are brave, you are bold, you are courageous. Stop blaming yourself; you are not ugly, you are not
unworthy.

Know that this girl is going places; look in the mirror and see the spark and zest for life and depths of your soul in your eyes, see the ambition and hunger for life. Hold onto this. See the love for life and for yourself from you to you, and from people who genuinely love you and care for you.

Focus on all the wonderful things you have in your life and stop focussing on what you don’t have. Don’t give up on yourself or life, be proud of who you are and of who you will become. Do not be afraid to be you; speak your truth, show yourself, your authentic self. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable, don’t be afraid to be human, don’t be afraid to show who you are – take risks, stand in front of the world and speak your truth. Shine bright, Rachel. 

Please do not hold onto the anger, sadness, fear, hurt and guilt. Know that you did not deserve any actions or words inflicted on you. You didn’t deserve it or ask for it. Holding onto those experiences and feelings will only hold you back from the amazing opportunities and experiences that life has to offer you.

When anyone asks you, “who do you think you are”, say that you are Rachel Wade with pride, say I’m a hero, I’m a fighter and I’m a champion. I’m a compassionate, loving, kind person, who cares about people and the world we live in.

Don’t give up, even when you feel like you should, even through the dark times – life really does get a whole lot better. And enjoy getting to know yourself, as you grow and take your place in the world.

Sending unconditional love to you, sending loving light to you – All My Love, Rachel xxx

Do you want to know how to write your own letter?

If you want to write a letter, you may not know where to start. Like with most things, getting started is the hardest step. My advice is to get a sense of what you want to get out of the letter; start with a simple goal. With my letter above, it was to let go of the past that was holding me back from living a
wonderful life of love, abundance and fulfilment.

You may not even know what you want from the letter and that’s okay, too. Just start writing and the words will flow. After writing my letter, I felt a sense of clarity like never before. Almost as if my life flashed before my eyes, though less dramatic and with less emotion. The process of writing the letter meant I had to be really honest with myself, digging into painful and heavy stuff.

Other letters I have written include where I wanted to confront my mistakes. So I wrote about what bothered me, what I wish I had done instead, and where I have ended up in life.

If like me, you’re exceptionally hard on yourself, then you’re not alone. I’ve gone through the negative cycle of berating myself for past mistakes, even though the outcome can’t be changed. However, self-criticism can take its toll on both our minds and bodies. 

Our brains are trained to distinguish the good from the bad. When we sway from our goals or expectations, we assign a negative value to the experience. Writing a letter to my past-self allowed me to access the more compassionate side of my brain, to analyse the situation in a new light and
from a wiser perspective.

Remember, we’re human and we all make mistakes, no matter how evolved we are. We are making decisions with the knowledge and resources we have available to us at that moment in time. The trick is to learn from mistakes in order to not make them again. It’s all part of life’s learnings.

“Just because your past may not have been perfect, doesn’t mean that your future can’t be
amazing”

My Top Tip

As we live, we tend to forget about many decisions, promises, and other valuable things. Sometimes we make mistakes which we don’t want to repeat, but eventually, we forget about them and step on the same rake. This letter will be a reality, helping you to raise some essential questions to see if you are moving in the right direction.

My Top Tip

Most really prominent and successful people have a journal. They engage in self-reflection a lot, draw conclusions, and change their lives. You can follow this example to get on a new personal level.

Top Tip:

Writing such a letter could kick up a lot of feelings, so go at your own pace. Stop if it’s overwhelming and process feelings with a coach or someone you feel safe to share how you are feeling.

“We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it”

If you have found this useful, then please share this with anyone you know who would also benefit
to help them along their journey in life.

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Pura Vida!