> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.gilespcroft.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The past-creating present - URL: https://www.gilespcroft.com/the-past-creating-present/ - Published: 2026-08-16T06:00:27.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-16T06:00:27.000Z - Description: I can only hope this one messes with your head as much as it did mine 🤪 - Author: Giles P Croft - Tags: Presence, Trauma, Sunday Spiritual, Sharing, Principles, MECHANICS, Insight, IMPLICATIONS, Identity, #freebie CTA Some of you might remember that a few years ago (we're talking pre-Daily Reminders website here) I used to welcome new subscribers to my mailing list with an email course. It was great, but unfortunately it became one of the casualties of swapping platforms, and a while ago someone asked me if I'd ever consider bringing it back. At the time, the answer was that I had no plans to do so, but plans are all mind-created, aren't they, and here in reality, it turns out that it is indeed coming back, bigger and better! 🙌🏻 I've spent the last few weeks beavering away here at my computer, revisiting all the materials in light of how I see things these days, re-editing all the videos, cross-referencing all the content against relevant Daily Reminders and essentially creating a kick-ass, 8-part, mini-course that will live permanently on the website, instead of disappearing in people's inboxes. It's the sort of thing I wish I could have experienced myself, because it takes you on a journey straight to the heart of the Innate Health understanding, in simple, but powerful, bite-sized chunks. ## An insight for the ages Anyway, digression aside, there's one lesson I've just been working on that looks specifically at the past – not just letting go of past hurts, but how to avoid getting stuck in previous patterns of behaviour, too. And there's a quote I've found for it that absolutely floored me when I first came across it. I was like, *Say whaaaaat?!?!* But then I slowed down to examine it from an Innate Health perspective and I realised that Yes, if we're looking at the fundamental principles behind how we experience life, this *must* be true. It's from Steve Chandler's book, [*Right Now*](https://amzn.to/4gyuDJp?ref=gilespcroft.com), in which he states, simply: > *“The past does not create the present…* > *The present is what creates the past.”* \[And that sound you can hear is my brain actually exploding 🤯\] Because that just seems so *wrong*, doesn't it?! Surely it's our past that's creating our present experience? Isn't that what our conditioning and our experience *is?* But then we have to wrestle that world view into the natural order of things, as expressed in these two 🔑 **Key Messages** of mine: > Your felt experience of life is only EVER happening NOW And: > We live in the feeling of a Thought-created perceptual reality …and realisation dawns that *everything* we experience is Now, and *everything* is a creation of Thought, *ergo:* **“The present is what creates the past.”** **🤷🏻** ## Freedom! As far as implications go, in [the book](https://amzn.to/4gyuDJp?ref=gilespcroft.com), Steve takes it in the direction of productivity and creation and getting hung up on past failures, when he concludes: > *“You ask about your past patterns and it's my experience that your patterns don't have to matter.”* (Not *“don't matter,”* you'll note, but *“don't have to matter”* – which is different.) Or, to put it another way, in the words of Alan Watts: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/2026/08/Alan-Watts-quote---No-obligation-to-be-5-minutes-ago_frame.jpg) > *“You are under no obligation to be the same person you were, five minutes ago”* \~ Alan Watts Which is ridiculously freeing to see. Have yourself a light-hearted, story-free weekend. ❣️ Giles SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY REMINDERS newsletter [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/2025/12/DR_Lockup-Black-1.png)](#/portal/signup) Want to start **your* days with helpful, insightful content like this? The Daily Reminder is a quick, lighthearted email that arrives in your inbox, to help keep you grounded in reality, so that you get to **‘Think less, and live more.’* **“They feel like a moment of stillness in a world of madness.” \~* Neil, UK **“One of those small things with big impact. Honestly, just sign up!”* \~ Paula, UK [GET YOURS NOW ](#/portal/signup) ### Related [Closing the door on who you could beLooking to the past for a sense of security has implications 👀![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/icon/DR_Lockup-Black-3-406c832b-4a4b-4eae-8ddf-76a1ad0ea868.png)The Daily RemindersGiles P Croft![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1538766017398-415434a31a5b-b9c83fd6-6a79-4806-9f0b-257de7410680.jpeg)](https://www.gilespcroft.com/closing-the-door-on-who-you-could-be/) Don't let your past dictate your future!