“It seemed like a good idea at the time”

Choosing the Positive
We can ask ourselves: “When was I ever trained in the techniques of emotional self-healing?  When I went to school, did they teach me courses on consciousness? Did anybody ever tell me that I had the freedom to choose what went into my mind? Was I ever taught that I could refuse all of the negative programming?  Did anybody ever tell me the laws of consciousness?  If not, why beat ourselves up about having innocently believed certain things? Why not stop beating ourselves up right now?

We all did what we thought was best in the moment.  “It seemed like a good idea at the time” is what we can say about our past actions and those of others. We’ve all been unwittingly programmed without our conscious assent.  Out of our confusion, ignorance, and naiveté, we bought into the negative programs.  We let them run us.  But now we can choose to stop.  We can choose a different direction.  We can choose to become more aware, more conscious, more responsible, and more discerning.

from Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender, ch. 4, pg. 66-67