Living In Gratitude: Our Past Is Perfect

We’ve all made mistakes or failed at something. Most likely, quite a few things. While some people allow these perceived failures to become roadblocks, preventing them from achieving success or moving forward in life, “Chicken Soup for the Soul” co-creator Jack Canfield believes we should look at these ‘missteps’ in a different light.

As written in his book, The Success Principles, “your past has actually been ‘perfect,’ because it has all led to this marked moment in your life, when you are on the verge of gaining more knowledge.” This concept of a “perfect” past applies to each and every one of us because we’ve always done the best we could with what we knew at the time. Even when we’ve made mistakes.

“I believe that everything you’ve ever done … you were doing the best you could with the awareness, skills, tools and knowledge you had at the time,” Canfield says.

Everything you’ve done, good or bad, has been driven by your attempt to meet some basic need.

“Whether people cheated on their income taxes or some kid joined a gang or someone did something that we’d say is illegal, they were trying to meet some basic need — for approval, for connection, for belonging,” Canfield explains. “If they had better tools and awareness, they would have done better.”

Gaining new awareness, new skills and new knowledge isn’t just a part of moving toward a more successful life. In Canfield’s mind, it’s actually the answer to life’s big question: Why are we here?

“My belief is that the whole purpose of life is to gain mastery,” Canfield says. “Master our emotions, our finances, our relationships, our consciousness through meditation, things like that.”

None of this has anything do with gaining material possessions.

“It’s not about the stuff. All the stuff can be taken away. People lose their fortunes. They lose their reputation. Beautiful spouses die or leave you. But who you became in the process can never be taken away. Never,” Canfield says. “You are mastering through the process of overcoming these obstacles that you face in life.”