Attitudinal Healing Principle 4: Let Go of The Past And Future

What is Attitudinal Healing?

Jerry Jampolsky, one of the early readers of A Course in Miracles, simplified its complex lessons into the 12 Principles of Attitudinal Healing (AH). AH groups have grown into a worldwide service that can be applied to almost any difficulty.  The 12 Principles of Attitudinal Healing 1. The Essence Of Our Being Is Love 2. Health Is Inner Peace, Healing Is Letting Go Of Fear 3. Giving And Receiving Are The Same 4. We Can Let Go Of The Past And Future 5. Now Is The Only Time There Is And Each Instant Is For Giving 6. We Can Learn To Love Ourselves And Others By Forgiving Rather Than Judging 7. We Can Become Love Finders Rather Than Fault-Finders 8. We Can Choose And Direct Ourselves To Be Peaceful Inside Regardless Of What Is Happening Outside 9. We Are Students And Teachers To Each Other 10. We Can Focus On The Whole Of Life Rather Than The Fragments 11. Since Love Is Eternal, Death Need Not Be Viewed As Fearful 12. We Can Always Perceive Others As Either Loving Or Fearful And Giving A Call Of Help For Love In past blogs, I summarized Principle 1. The Essence of our Being is Love, and Love is Eternal.,  Principle 2. Health Is Inner Peace, Healing Is Letting Go Of Fear, and  Principle 3. Giving Is the Same As Receiving.

Principle 4. We Can Let Go Of The Past And Of The Future

The past is there for our learning. All of our experiences are valuable ones and add to our growth, if we choose to view it that way. Things that we have done that we label as “wrong” are merely experiences for us to learn from and build upon. It does not serve us, however, to dwell on the past. Things like “if only I had done this or that” or “I wish it were different” only serve to hinder us.
    The fact is that we are in the present and we need to deal with what is going on NOW. This, again, is done by retraining our minds to stay aware and alert. It is so easy to slip into either the past or the future, but we are not truly alive unless we are living in the present moment. The future can be exciting or scary, depending on what is going on in our lives. We can dwell on the anxieties of the future all we want, but it surely does not give us peace.
    There is an important distinction here. All this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t make plans for our future. Of course, that is important. The distinction is that while we are making plans for the future, our consciousness remains in the present.     
  We can’t foresee the future, so it isn’t productive to dwell on what may or may not happen. We can only set our intentions for the future, like making reservations, and then take steps to make them happen when they actually manifest and become the present.
    The important aspect of this Principle is that we can elect to change past thoughts that are not beneficial, or that are hurtful. To do this, it is important to become aware of them, and then make a conscious decision to let them go. If they come back again, we just repeat the process. Every time something comes up that we don’t want to hang onto, we can make a fresh decision to erase the tape.
    One of the concepts that is particularly valuable in Attitudinal healing is “My mind can change all thoughts that hurt.” This is a powerful tool if we want to change our perceptions and create a new reality.

More About Attitudinal Healing
You can easily find Attitudinal Healing groups by searching in your area. They are helpful for anyone who is struggling with any life situation. Many years ago, I joined my mentor, Jane, in California to become a facilitator for Attitudinal Healing groups. What a wonderful experience. Plus, I got to meet the late Jerry Jampolsky

Source material: Love is Letting Go of Fear, by Jerry Jampolsky and AH Review Principles Booklet