Is the Past Stealing Your Present?

Print Friendly or Save Article as PDF

By Paul Lenda

Staff Writer for Wake Up World

Quantum physicist pioneer David Bohm once said that, “Ultimately, all moments are really one, therefore now is an eternity.” The gravity of this statement is huge. It reaffirms what sages, mystics, and yogis have been known for millennia. There is no such thing as the past or the future, even though we make up words to define moments which do not appear to be happening right now. Everything is happening right now, forever.

If the present is the only moment that is truly real, then what about the past? You remember previous present moments with ease, even though they are not happening right now within your scope of awareness. The past is kept alive by our thoughts being focused on it.

We should not forget the past because it acts as a good teacher in many ways. However, there is a certain point where focusing too much on the past will rob us of our ability to live in the present.

The Thief of the Past

Many of us are experiencing a high crime of theft and the thief is the past stealing the present.

The past may be stealing your ability to experience the eternal Now without you realizing it. Here are a few ways you will know whether this is occurring:

  • You are obsessed with history to the point where it is practically all you ever focus on in your space time. The majority of your conversations revolve around talking about some war that happened or some geopolitical events that transpired.
  • You find yourself often reminiscing about your childhood and youth, whether you have good pleasant memories or traumatic ones. You keep reliving your high-school “glory days” and still identify with the level of emotional maturity you were at in those times.
  • You continuously blame yourself, indicating you are having difficulty forgiving yourself about something, or several things, you have done in the past.
  • You are a grumpy and bitter person that finds people exuding joy to be annoying. The reason for your bitterness is something happened in your past where you were hurt in some way. At first, you probably felt sad, but then that turned into anger and bitterness.
  • You are afraid of change. You adopt a mindset of keeping everything the way it is because that is your comfort zone. You do not like progress on any front, even if it is going to be beneficial.
  • You have low self-esteem. Something happened in your past which made you feel ashamed, embarrassed, guilty, or not good enough. You have found it difficult to create a new identity for yourself as someone that is no longer those things.
  • You want to get revenge. Whether it was someone that you feel did something to cause you hard or some system that was oppressing you, you want to take vengeance on them.

How to Live in the Present

The key to shifting away from being controlled by the past is to let yourself know that the past is gone. It is no longer here. Yes, you may have had amazing experiences and yes, you may have had terrible ones, but those are no longer part of your present reality. In this new Now, you can create new experiences and are in control of making that happen.

Living in the past keeps us stagnant. If we want to continue evolving and becoming better versions of ourselves, we need to learn to let go and embrace the eternal Now that is the cauldron of infinite creative possibilities.

Recommended articles by Paul Lenda:

About the author:

Paul Lenda is a conscious evolution guide, founder & director of SHIFT, author, writer, speaker, meditation teacher, life coach, and ambassador for the New Paradigm wishing to provide an integral role in personal transformation and the collective social transformation of humanity. Paul offers private one-on-one holistic life counseling & conscious evolution sessions, via Skype or phone. Paul takes into account all aspects of the hyperdimensional matrix when providing guidance, counseling, and coaching.

You can connect with Paul via:

If you've ever found value in our articles, we'd greatly appreciate your support by purchasing Mindful Meditation Techniques for Kids - A Practical Guide for Adults to Empower Kids with the Gift of Inner Peace and Resilience for Life.

In the spirit of mindfulness, we encourage you to choose the paperback version. Delve into its pages away from screen glare and notifications, allowing yourself to fully immerse in the transformative practices within. The physical book enriches the learning process and serves as a tangible commitment to mindfulness, easily shared among family and friends.

Over the past few years, Wake Up World has faced significant online censorship, impacting our financial ability to stay online. Instead of soliciting donations, we're exploring win-win solutions with our readers to remain financially viable. Moving into book publishing, we hope to secure ongoing funds to continue our mission. With over 8,500 articles published in the past 13 years, we are committed to keeping our content free and accessible to everyone, without resorting to a paywall.

You may also like