5 Ways to Let Go of the Past (Worksheet)

5 Ways to LET GO of the Past

Worksheet

Based on the Crutchprints.com article by Ashly P. Ash

 

ReProcess:

Describe the situation you are having trouble letting go of?

 

When I think of this situation, I feel these emotions:

 

What typically triggers you to feel this way?  (Is it around a certain person, an event, a place, a thing, a smell?)

 

Does something cause you to think and feel this way over and over?  What is it?

 

When is the first time you remember feeling this way?

 

Ask God to guide you and bring anything to your mind that you may have forgotten:

 

ReCognize:

 

Since the very first time this happened, I have been feeling like

_______________________________________________________________________________________

 

every time __________________________________________________________________ happens.

 

This has impacted my life in different ways.  Some of those ways are:

 

Emotionally:

 

Relationally:

 

Physically:

 

Behaviorally:

 

In the first memory I have of this sort of thing happening and this feeling occurring here are the facts of the situation:

 

Who was involved?

 

Where were we?

 

What was involved?

 

When was the incident, how old was I?

 

Why did it happen this way?

 

Was my response appropriate for my age and current situation?

 

Was I wrong in assuming responsibility for something I shouldn’t have?

 

Should I have stepped up and taken responsibility when I didn’t?

 

Who was responsible, was someone else supposed to fill any roles in this?

 

Was I the victim, perpetrator, or rescuer in the situation? (Victim = Happened to you, Perpetrator = You did it to someone/something, Rescuer = Situation involving collaboration around someone else’s issue)

 

If a friend was telling me this story like it had happened to him/her what would advice would I give them?

 

Seeing the facts in black and white, are there any underlying things I may have started to believe since this original incident that I still carry with me?

 

Because of ____________________________________________________________________________

 

I started to believe _____________________________________________________________________

 

because _______________________________________________________________________________.

 

Things I believe that are wrong                                              The Truth (opposite)

 

1.                                                                                            1.

 

2.                                                                                             2.

 

3.                                                                                            3.

 

4.                                                                                            4.

 

5.                                                                                            5.

 

Now what?

 

I feel like I need to ____________________________________________________________________

with ____________________________________________________________________ to help me feel

_______________________________________________________________________ and walk in truth.

 

I need to make new boundaries by specifically

___________________________________________________________________________________________.

 

I need to communicate with _______________________________________________________ that I

____________________________________________________________________________________ and

would appreciate if they ___________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________ from now on.

 

Forgive:

I need to forgive ________________________________________________________________________.

 

Do I need to forgive myself? If so, for what?

 

Do I need to forgive God (am I mad at him for not preventing this)?

 

ReLease and Grieving:

 

What did I lose in this situation by believing certain untrue things?

 

Things could have been different if

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________ had happened.

 

When I think of the way this has affected my life I feel

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________.

 

Allow yourself time to think about your loss that has been caused by the original situation, situations where it has come up since, and the loss of time because of being unable to let it go.  

ReThink:

 

In the past I would have responded to a trigger by_______________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

but from now on I would like to respond by ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________.

 

Make a list of situations that this may get dredged up in again.  It is around certain people, places, times, or things?

 

Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in thinking new thoughts instead of old ones.  Ask him to help you move on from destructive patterns and cycle into new, healthy ones!

ReCap

 

Old Patterns, Thoughts, Beliefs:                                                         New Ones:

 

Pray and commit to surrendering this whole worksheet to Jesus.  Ask him to help you with it on a daily basis. Help him to give you the freedom to truly LET GO.  If there is anything that is missing from this worksheet or something more applicable to YOUR situation, ask God to show you that.  

 

Know that I pray for every person that has utilized this worksheet as a tool and pray that you find the freedom that I have found in this process.  May your transformation in Christ continue until the day of His return and forevermore!