Is it time to forget the past?

I forgot to remember to forget her,
I can't seem to get her off my mind.
I thought I'd never miss her,
But I found out somehow
I think about her almost all the time. (Sung by Elvis Presley)

I always loved this song by Elvis, perhaps for the interesting twist to the lyrics. Have you ever not been able to forget something? I am sure we all have things we would like to forget. Sometimes, it seems we think about them all the time. Often, ironically, it is only time that helps us to forget them. However if we keep rehashing the thoughts in our mind, we never let time work. We are constantly refreshing the thoughts and allowing them to be present and timely. 

I know it is too much to hope I can ever get all of these all thoughts out of my mind. Some are mistakes, some are regrets, some are things I feel sorry for, some are "might have been" but all are things I can no longer do anything about. I have made my amends where I can and made my apologies where necessary. I can't live my life over so the thoughts and reminisces don't do me any good except to continue to feel bad over and over again.  Time to let go as my friend Bruce would say, but letting go is never easy.  I guess like everything else, there are times to remember the past and times to forget it.

How then, do we get unwanted thoughts out of our mind if even time will not erase them? How do we let go of the past?  One thing I do is use a prayer to help me push the unwanted ideas or thoughts out. As soon as the undesirable idea or issue arises, I repeat a meditation or prayer which replaces the idea. I have found this to work quite well. There are many different types of prayers in all religions. I have a book titled: “Prayers That Avail Much” by Germaine Copeland. This book has many prayers for all occasions and can be quite helpful. Try buying a prayer book in whatever faith you practice and see how prayer can help to keep your mind fresh and peaceful.

What thoughts do you have that you want to get out of your mind? How often do they reoccur? What techniques have you found to "forget the past."  Say a prayer today and see if it helps? The thoughts may reoccur but the meditation or prayer will help you to forget.