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How to Be the Best YOU and Work Toward Your Dreams and Goals

How to Be the Best YOU and Work Toward Your Dreams and Goals

How to Be the Best YOU and Work Toward Your Dreams and Goals
Photo by Adrian Berg

How to Be the Best YOU and Work Toward Your Dreams and Goals 

What would it be like to wake up every morning not remembering anything that happened the day before? Would we be the happiest people on earth? Or would we always wonder what happened in our past?

Many of us remember our past (and some of us, a little too well). We can remember things that happened during our childhood like it happened yesterday. Some of the things we remember are good things. And some things are bad things. We can remember rude comments from our classmates out on the playground and discouraging remarks from a teacher.

Oh, the past. The very thing we tend to give too much power.

But while the past serves as a reminder of moments of discouragement or embarrassment, it also serves as a reminder of what not to do and how not to live.

Experiences are meant to be lessons, valuable information we can use to learn and grow to become the people we were designed to become. They weren't meant to hold us back. They weren't designed to keep us from our dreams. Sometimes we need to learn to appreciate things or to have more patience or to trust in God. And until we learn those lessons and improve in some way, we'll be stuck in situations that keep testing us and prodding us.

The past is a wonderful thing. It teaches us how to live, how not to live, how to behave, how not to behave. It gives writers material to write about. It gives us experiences that allow us to speak life into other people's lives. It gives people the ability to hear messages like, "hey, you're not alone" or "I've gone through those things, too." We can even learn from the experiences of others. The past is meant to be learned from, not dwelled on.

If we dwell on the past, we're not using it as a learning tool. And if our only takeaways are negativity or discouragement, we're doing it wrong. When we let the past keep us from our goals and dreams, we do a disservice to those who could benefit from our work. All of the things that do not serve us and help us live a better life today need to be kept in the past. What happened back then cannot be undone. We must simply use it as a learning tool to improve our lives today.

Jody Calkins
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