Leave the wake in the past…
As many of you know, one of my most beloved teachers someone from whom I have gained many most important and profound perspectives is the late Dr Wayne Dyer. One of Dr Dyer’s stories that he uses to illustrate the power (or lack thereof) of our past is the wake of a boat.
The wake doesn’t drive the boat forward
If you are unfamiliar with the story, in short it refers to the fact that what is past – in this instance, the wake (or trailing wave) of a boat has no impact on the ‘now’ nor the future of the boat – with the boat being analogous to your life.
The wake CAN affect the boat – here’s how:
One thing I witnessed on the weekend, however, prompted me to a revised knowledge that the wake of a boat CAN have quite negative and destructive impacts upon the boat.
Please allow me to explain…
Imagine you are out on a speedboat, cruising along at a high rate of knots, and leaving a very large wake behind you. While this trailing wave has no impact on your ‘now’, nor your boat’s forward momentum, if you decide to suddenly turn your boat about-face and focus on where you’ve been instead of where you are going, your wake can swamp your boat!
If you are flowing along with a great deal of forward momentum and all of a sudden start focusing on your past, you, too may discover that your life is ‘swamped’ with the unwanted.
Stay clear of the wake (the past) of others
…and yet another example with regard to the potential negative power of a wake, is when you stay too close to the wake of another…
Imagine a large boat very quickly heading into the harbour. A much smaller vessel that had been on a particular course, decided to change direction and ‘wake surf’ the larger boat’s trailing wave. Unfortunately, the smaller boat is disabled by the power of the wake of the other boat.
The lesson I took from this scene was that if we focus too intently on the ‘past’ of others, we run the risk of disabling our own forward momentum.
While it may seem like a very basic message, this simple notion can have profound impacts on our path from where we are to where we wish to be.
Leave the wake – yours and everyone else’s – in the past where it belongs.
Sending love and smiles…
~ Bella
Ms Bella St John – Founder, Abundance-Thinking.com