Twice this week I heard these words or read them: Live in the Moment. This is a skill I have struggled learning most of my adult life. By nature I am a planner and organizer, and I live by the calendar. I am typically looking in the future toward a goal I want to accomplish or that must be accomplished because of my career. I plan family celebrations and get togethers with friends. Most of the time my planning serves me well. The fruit of these labors are evident in my life. I have a successful career, a beautiful home, a close family, good friends....I live the American dream. All of this is a result of working a plan and a purpose and staying focused on the objective.
HOWEVER, a good life should be a balanced life, and it is equally important, I believe, to enjoy everyday life. It was my husband who role-modeled how to live in the moment (i.e. enjoy everyday life). He showed me how to slow down and take time to enjoy a sunset, a full moon, watching birds soaring above our house, squirrels preparing for winter, hummingbirds flying on our deck in search of their feeder, and sitting by a campfire to just watch the flame (no words have to be spoken). He also taught me the art of taking a walk without an agenda. To talk about anything that comes to mind or nothing at all. To just "be". My husband showed me how to turn off the outside world's noise, unplug, and listen to nature, to people and their concerns, to share experiences, to stop and give a hug or a kind word, and finally to love everyday life. I am reminded of something said in a sermon that impacted me and helped me to re-focus. This person said - we are human-BEINGS, not human-DOINGs. Let's stop doing something all the time and just enjoy being. Take some time this Christmas to stop, be quiet, and enjoy just BEING alive. Merry Christmas!
Heart to Heart Cafe
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
A Time to Heal
I have learned that emotional healing is a choice just like choosing happiness over sadness; positive thoughts over negative ones. This type of inner healing is a conscious decision to be made.
I recently made a choice to heal my heart from some serious hurts and wounds. They were fiery darts/daggers piercing my heart, thrown by someone who was also was hurting. Let me interject here that hurting people hurt people. It has taken me nearly a year to get this event behind me. You see, I believed their words and the downward spiral of self-hatred began. It was a debilitating seed planted in my consciousness. So much so that I dreamed about it almost every night. I forgave everyone involved except myself. Finally, my husband and youngest daughter told me point-blank, your emotional healing will not come until you forgive yourself for not being perfect. They asked me why I wouldn't take the forgiveness God gives to all humanity for myself. It was then that I finally saw how right they were. So I made the decision to take God's mercy and receive it for myself. The next part of the healing process was to let go of the past and move on. I didn't realize how tightly I was holding on to something that happening 30 plus years ago! Such heartbreak for a young woman of 19-20 years of age in the 70's. I cut myself some slack as I had done to those throwing the darts. I was a kid when all of this heartache transpired.
Now, I have come to see that God allowed this buried pain to bubble up and re-surface from the deep so I could be healed and be free from it forever. To get the job done I had to be willing to let it go...to let that darkness be replaced by the Light.
To whoever might be reading this today, I say to you, if you have any hurts buried in your heart and you haven't been able to get past the pain, I encourage you to purge that rotten thing out of your heart, turn away from it, move in a new direction toward a bright future and receive total freedom so you can live your life in peace. You can't do it alone. It will take God's help.
I recently made a choice to heal my heart from some serious hurts and wounds. They were fiery darts/daggers piercing my heart, thrown by someone who was also was hurting. Let me interject here that hurting people hurt people. It has taken me nearly a year to get this event behind me. You see, I believed their words and the downward spiral of self-hatred began. It was a debilitating seed planted in my consciousness. So much so that I dreamed about it almost every night. I forgave everyone involved except myself. Finally, my husband and youngest daughter told me point-blank, your emotional healing will not come until you forgive yourself for not being perfect. They asked me why I wouldn't take the forgiveness God gives to all humanity for myself. It was then that I finally saw how right they were. So I made the decision to take God's mercy and receive it for myself. The next part of the healing process was to let go of the past and move on. I didn't realize how tightly I was holding on to something that happening 30 plus years ago! Such heartbreak for a young woman of 19-20 years of age in the 70's. I cut myself some slack as I had done to those throwing the darts. I was a kid when all of this heartache transpired.
Now, I have come to see that God allowed this buried pain to bubble up and re-surface from the deep so I could be healed and be free from it forever. To get the job done I had to be willing to let it go...to let that darkness be replaced by the Light.
To whoever might be reading this today, I say to you, if you have any hurts buried in your heart and you haven't been able to get past the pain, I encourage you to purge that rotten thing out of your heart, turn away from it, move in a new direction toward a bright future and receive total freedom so you can live your life in peace. You can't do it alone. It will take God's help.
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