April 7, 2014
Daughters of my heart, and other readers
Choose to accept who you are and where you are now. Choosing to accept yourself and your past is not necessarily approving of everything or everyone who played a part in it, it is simply acknowledging the reality of your life at this moment. Accepting who and where we are now is the first step to changing anything we wish to be different. How we feel about ourselves and our life is up to us. We get to choose the thoughts that become the words we speak, that become the actions we take, that become our reality.
We get to choose. That is both the good news and the bad news, for now there is no more blaming anyone or anything else. Our experiences as children colored our world, of course, and we all still have that small child within us. Every experience we have had until this moment has played a role in making us who we are today. Now we can carry the past with us forever, bemoaning the fact that our childhood, young adulthood, relationship, marriage, etc., wasn't what we thought it should have been, or we can accept it, learn whatever we can from it, be grateful for the learning, and move on, leaving the past precisely where it belongs, in the past. What went before has power to influence us only to the extent that we allow it. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." All of our feelings and all of our actions have had our consent. Other people, events, and circumstances have only the power that we give them. So much easier to blame a parent, a teacher, a friend, an employer, a spouse, and granted they played a role, but the final choice, and the only choice that mattered for us, was ours.
And that is the liberating, wonderful part of it all! We get to choose! We get to choose being peaceful in the moment. We get to choose whether others' opinions are more important than our own. We get to choose whether we move in the direction of our dreams or remain mired in the past.
Remember that all choices have consequences so, at the same time that we are making choices, we are also choosing the results of those choices. And if/when we choose not to take steps to change our circumstances, we are then choosing our circumstances.
Life is a learning and growing experience, ebbing and flowing in many directions, some of which we choose. Accept it as such. Life is so much easier when we understand and accept that we have choices, the most important of which is what we choose now.
Sometimes, when we read words of encouragement or advice, we think, "Oh, he/she doesn't understand; has never felt as I feel; is too old to know or remember; etc., etc., etc." Speaking for myself, been there, done that, felt the pleasure and the pain of unwise choices, and realized some years ago that much of the pain was unnecessary. Accepting the past, being grateful for the lessons learned, letting go of the past and moving on, is the only way that makes any sense to me now.
My only purpose in putting pen to paper, transferring the words to a computer, and sending those words out into the universe, is that whoever will benefit from the words will read them, understand the message, make wiser decisions, and thereby enrich their own lives and the lives of all those whose lives they touch.
Now is the most important moment we have, because now is the only moment we have. We live in what has been termed 'the eternal now.' Every day is a stream of 'now' moments. We cannot live tomorrow until it becomes today, with its own stream of 'now' moments. That is why now is so important. Now is when the seeds are sown for all the todays we will experience. Now is the perfect time for each of us to plan the life of our dreams, and to take the first steps to achieving it. There will never be a better time than now. Now is when we know. Now is when we can decide. Now is when we can act. Now is always and eternal.
Daughters of my heart and other readers, we have choice, and we have now. Choice, which is free will, is a privilege that carries responsibility with it. Choice is a huge, wonderful gift. Now is the perfect time to accept that gift, and use it as wisely as possible.
Remember to always take care of yourselves. Treat yourselves gently and with respect. Walk in dignity and grace. You are important to God, the Universe, and all those who love you, including me.
Love you, always
Zizi
Copyright 2014
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(Zizi is a diminutive of Zia, Aunt in Italian).
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