Don’t allow yourself to be trapped by your past negative experience. When your thoughts keep on going back to a past negative interaction, you miss out on the present. Looking backwards while driving is dangerous. Why? You can easily fail to see what is in front of you or become too distracted to get the most out of your present sense of well-being, and your desire to protect your health, have better relationships, and become more successful.

Do you still get worked up and stressed out, each time you think about how your little sister talked to you during Christmas? How long do you carry the past with you? Is it for 6 months, six years or since your childhood or marriage? Was it since the last time you were passed over, while others got promoted?

Here are 3 tips and ways you can use to overcome the painful memories the past. The first tip is that you have to let go of the past injustice and bitterness.

While it is important to remember and acknowledge a painful negative experience, it is almost that each person is able to decide, when and how, they would let go of such an experience. Please don’t try to convince yourself that playing the incident over and over in your mind is cathartic or educational. It’s not. Learn what you can immediately after the negative experience and then try to move on.

The second tip is to create new memories. An effective way to unseat old memories is to create new memories. If you want to get over negative feelings generated by friends who always put you down, is to make new friends with more positive communication. You can also create more positive memories by becoming more active with your life. Join a club, make new friends, spend time doing something new. Make your new experiences so positive that the new memories overpower the old, past memories.

The third tip and way to detach yourself from past negative experiences would be to spend more time in the present moment. Mindfulness helps you to channel your thoughts away from distractions and stay focused on the things you can do with the moment you have to make your relationships better. It also means that you have to be careful, how much time you spend on blaming others.

Are you suffering because of the past? Why? Why are you treating yourself that way? Some things in life don’t work out, but that doesn’t mean they have to determine the direction of the rest of your life. Forgive those that have wronged you in the past. Forgive yourself. Don’t let those who have offended you, sap away the energy you will need to work through your negative interactions and make your communication with others more positive and effective!.