Leaving the Past Behind

A new day has dawned. The early morning light was so bright that it nudged me awake through closed eyelids, urging me to wake up and begin my day.

Some days beginning again is easier than other days.

Other days it seems as if yesterday’s failures and disappointments have followed us into our tomorrows. 

                Too often our tendency is to look backward and wonder, what if?

But we can’t let regrets and painful memories keep us stuck in the past. Each and every day is a new beginning, and we can’t move forward if we allow ourselves to feel stuck in the past.

There is great freedom in being in control of our thoughts. We can choose where to focus our attention. It takes practice, a lot of practice, to change behaviors we've held so long. Think about the tremendous amount of energy we waste when we dwell on past events. What's done is done. We simply cannot change what has passed. We can learn from the past, but we must move forward. 

Reliving past hurts and disappointments leaves us wallowing in the misery of the painful emotions we experienced. Why keep ourselves tied up in painful memories?

It’s time to break free! 

We can make the choice to leave the past where it belongs, in the past, and focus our thoughts on where we are now and the direction we want to be going.

It does us no good to berate ourselves for past mistakes. We need to make the choice to move forward, breaking the pattern of dwelling on past mistakes and instead choose to look ahead, to the future!

We have only one chance to make our lives what we want them to be. If we waste time in the past, we are wasting our present. We need to live now, for this moment will never come again.

We can focus our thoughts on what we might want to improve in our lives. Then we can make a plan that will focus our your energy on something we can control. The only thing we have control over -- ourselves.

Much of the time, our lives feel out of our control.  We have so many demands on our time that it can be overwhelming. The one thing we can learn to have control over is our thoughts. It takes practice and focus to be in control, sometimes repeatedly pushing negative or unwanted thoughts away, sometimes out loud! Through controlling our thoughts we gain empowerment. And through empowerment we are inspired to keep moving forward.

When we feel in control of our thoughts, we feel more confident and assertive in our decision-making. 






We are able to move forward, keeping our focus where it needs to be, 
living in the moment 
and finding joy in the discovery of what each day has to offer.

Beauty from Ashes

Once there was a girl who dreamed great dreams. It was her way of escaping from the realities of life. She dreamed of great loves and new places and a happy life. She found relief from the adversity in her life by living inside of her mind, and she escaped into her fantasies whenever life got too tough.

She wrote stories, and poems that conveyed the emotions she tried to conceal. She sang and she cried, waiting for a time when life would offer her an opportunity to be free and live her life.

Though she suffered great emotional pain and torment, she survived, and with time she began to grow into the woman she hoped to be. There had been so many mistakes over so many years. She was still searching for that escape, and she carried the burden of her scars.

Time has a way of nurturing maturity, and over a half of a lifetime she would learn to grow from her mistakes. Still, there were times when her lack of belief in herself caused her once again to fall, floundering, gasping for life and begging her Savior for forgiveness.

As time wore on, she began to find hope, and she realized that indeed something beautiful was growing from the ashes of despair. As she placed her trust in the Lord, she found sturdier footing and began to climb out of the pit. Reaching her hands to the sky, she praised God for rescuing her and giving her new life; abundant life, and it grew day by day to be rich and full of Light.

Life is meant to be lived fully, reaching for hope and breathing in the possibilities. The reality is that this is the only life we get, and living fully in each moment is the only way to savor this one life.

We all fall down. Sometimes we are stuck in the mire and feel no way out. But there is a way, and it is through a relationship with Christ. Jesus is the way, the only hope of new life. Through Him we will know God, and know of this abundant life we have been given.

Even though we all suffer trials and setbacks, we keep moving forward along with the hands of the clock and each season of the calendar. We need to find a way to live fully in the moment, to grasp the absolute beauty of each day we have been given.

And even though we may have landed in the muck, when we reach out to the One who can rescue us and free us, even from our own poor choices, we find love and forgiveness and the opportunity for life in a brand new day.

  

Living in the Moment

Each moment that passes is gone in an instant. The millions of moments in our lives blur together to form every activity we do and every thought we have. We need to learn to appreciate and live for each moment, and to treasure the life that we live.

It is so easy to rush through our day with busyness and never pause long enough to value the moment right where we are. Surely, there are times when we wish the moments would speed on by, like when we are laying in the dentist chair, for instance, or waiting for the doctor while wearing a fashionable yet freezing paper gown.

But so many miniscule moments in each day pass by without their worth being enjoyed. Life is made up of moments, so we should savor those simple times.  This is a goal for me in this new year. To slow down just a bit, and to savor the life I am living.

I sat down to a steaming bowl of soup that I made for my lunch. I simmered it on the stovetop instead of zapping it in the microwave, and the flavors came through so much more. While it simmered I had time to make a double batch of brownies and get them in the oven, and yes, I savored the taste-testing of the batter as I prepared it. I could smell the soup cooking and anticipated the flavors through the aroma.

The moments of enjoying the hot soup, with vegetables and rice, might have gone differently in days past. Oftentimes I would sit down to eat and grab the nearest newspaper or magazine to read while I ate my lunch. Before I knew it, my food was gone and I hadn’t really experienced the pleasure of eating.

I am vegetarian and take time to prepare my own food. What a shame to eat it blindly without savoring the experience. Part of eating a healthy diet is the appreciation of the foods we eat and their benefits for our bodies. We should be cognizant of what we are eating and how quickly we are eating it. Our health depends on good food choices and healthy eating. It’s worth taking the time.

There are so many moments like this to savor. That first sip of coffee in the morning is such a treat for me. I open the back door and breathe a breath of fresh, cold, winter air and it makes me feel alive! I bundle up and take a winter walk through the woods, enjoying the sunlight blaring on pure white snow, and look for fresh animals tracks along the trails, enjoying the antics of the squirrels.

As the sun sinks into the evening sky, the colors are breathtaking and a good reason to pause and appreciate the peacefulness. The other day I saw a sun pillar as the sun set in the west. It was glorious! I wondered how many people noticed, or even saw it at all. Moments like these don’t last, and the unique beauty of nature is never repeated in exactly the same way. 

Apparently there were meteor showers to watch in the dark sky last night. Some friends ventured out at 3 a.m., away from city lights, to capture the brief moments of the meteors' entry into our atmosphere. Have you ever seen meteor showers? The flash of light happens so quickly that before you can say, “Look! There!” they are gone. How wonderful that these friends made a date with nature to appreciate the moments of beauty as they streaked by. 

Altogether we have 86,400 seconds to breathe each day, and this includes honoring our need for rest. Cherish the time your body must sleep. Allow ample time to relax and rejuvenate so that you can begin again tomorrow in your quest to savor the moments. These moments create your life, so delight in each moment as they come together to form the life you live.