One of the most revealing spiritual exercises you can do is also one of the simplest: spend an entire day trying not to reference the past. Do not think from the past, speak from the past, or feel from the past. Catch yourself when you drift there and return to now. What this inventory reveals about how much of your life is actually lived in the present will surprise you.
The Exercise: No Reference to the Past
Make a conscious effort today to not talk, think, or feel from the past. Watch yourself as much as you can. Change in mid-sentence, mid-thought, or mid-feeling if what is arising is coming from a past memory, wound, or story — and trade it for a thought, word, or feeling that belongs to today.
This is not about denying history. It is about discovering how automatically and invisibly the past runs your present. Most people are shocked by what they find. The majority of their inner commentary is actually a replay of old material: old hurts, old conversations, old fears dressed up as current concerns.
Making the Petition
In the morning, ask your Creator to help you see this. Make a vow to try and notice each time you drift back into the past. If you make this petition sincerely, you will be given the eyes to see it — and when you do see it, ask your Creator to bring you back to the now. Then look for something in the present moment to anchor yourself there: something you can see, hear, feel, or notice right where you are.
The present moment is always available. It is always here. The past is a narrative the mind replays; the now is the only place where real life — and real connection with God — is actually occurring.
What the Inventory Reveals
By the end of the day, you will have taken a genuine inventory of the soul: how much of yourself is actually present in your own life, and how much is being spent re-living, re-defending, or re-grieving the past. That inventory is priceless. It shows you exactly where your energy is going. And from that honest accounting, you can begin to choose differently — one thought, one conversation, one feeling at a time.
- Spend a day trying to catch every thought, word, and feeling that comes from the past — and return to the present instead.
- Most inner commentary is a replay of old material dressed as current concern — this exercise makes that visible.
- Make a morning petition: ask God to show you when you drift into the past and bring you back to the now.
- The present moment is the only place where real life and real connection with God are occurring.
- By day’s end you will have taken a soul inventory — seeing exactly where your energy is going and choosing differently.
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