I know right, what is going back?
In our context we are going to talk about remembering that is going back. And when we do this I want us to be all in, no excuses, no omissions I want us to talk about all of it.
You remember that time when all you felt in your heart was unexplained joy? Because I know I do. Remember the times you walked through the streets and hallways only having happy thoughts. Now go back a little more, to the time that you were in kindergarten; where your only worry was how to shade colors around a certain circle, being able to get your food in your mouth without spilling everywhere especially while having fries and we all know how messy the ketchup can be, making friends without judging where they came from, playing and most of all the naps that you did not like by then. Now I want you to fast forward to where you are now; maybe you finally got the job you wanted, you finally were given an opportunity to show case your portfolio in a certain interview, maybe it was getting more clients in that self-employed job you have or it’s that tender you were anxiously waiting for and you finally got it, maybe that semester was so overwhelming that you barely made through but you did it with a bang, maybe you finally graduated and got your life going on so well. I could go through things that bring out the smile on your face on and on and we would not hear the last of it.
Life is a roller-coaster sometimes you are up shinning so bright, the next thing you know, you are so low you do not even know how you got there and that’s what makes life beautiful, thrilling and worth living each and every day.
Right now I am going to take you back to places where you never like going, yes right now it’s about removing all the skeletons that have been hiding in your closet for years. That heart break you never managed to get over, that person who really gave you crap for so long and you wish them nothing but pain in their lives. I want you to start the process of forgiveness. That person who in a way violated you in ways you cannot even fathom I need you to forgive them sweetie, and remember it’s not for them because they do not deserve it, it’s for you, you cannot continue holding on to rotten tomatoes I want you to get rid of them today, it’s not easy but we both knew this day would come. I want you to remember that loss of someone you love and I want you to know they are in a better place, a place that is filled with happiness and it’s peaceful and I want you to let go, letting go does not mean to forget it means that you get to appreciate the lives they lived and appreciate all the moments you had no matter how brief, because you choose to remember them as the great people they were and not by their death .I want you to remember how lost you were at some point in your life and all the pain and resentment you felt and I want you to finally be free of it, no holding on to rotten Tomatoes .I want you to remember that someone you trusted and the way they betrayed you and I want you to forgive, no matter the situation this day we are choosing to forgive.
Remember it’s not for them it’s mainly for you. I want you to embrace yourself and teach yourself that you are worth so much more and you would rather forgive than keep resentment that poisons your heart instead of healing it with forgiveness.
I know we all struggle with this, believe me I know, I really find it hard to forgive someone but the moment you learn it’s for you ,everything changes ,just choose to do what’s best for you and that’s forgiving.
And now since you have chosen to forgive I want to tell you how proud I am of you for choosing you, you matter, each and every part of you matters.
Now I want you to light a candle, take a deep breath and think about everything you want to let go and blow it off. This is very therapeutic so I encourage you to actually do it. And now light it again and pat yourself in the back because as that little light shines bright is as much as you have started to shine and soon you are going to shine as bright as the great stream of stars which flows through heaven because you will never carry resentment ever again, we won’t get bitten twice.
You are not alone, always remember that, I got you. Anytime you feel like you are being pushed over the edge hold on, you will get through this you always do.
Most of all I want you to remember you have a High Power watching over you. When I say a Higher Power I mean the Supreme Being you have in your life .In my life I call Him God, Feel free to use whatever suits you. Trusting God does not mean that you will only get free rides, it means you will have bumps and everything that challenges you but trusting Him means you are freeing yourself from the overwhelming hold of your troubles .More so trusting Him assures you that they will be a good outcome and it allows you to have a clear mind, to think about how to handle the situation. Trusting Him does not mean you sit back and enjoy it means you take charge and maybe you will hear Him leading you on the way He wants you to follow. Everything He does, He does it for your good. He is always there when you need Him.
I want us to say this Serenity prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr, I know you have said it a couple of times, well at least a quarter of it but today I want us to do it together and we are going to do the whole of it not until where it suits us .
“God grant us the serenity to accept the things that we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the difference .Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace, Taking as He did this sinful world as it is, not as we would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if we surrender to His will. That we may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.”
To sum it up, you are better than you were a year ago and years to come you will be better than who you are now. It won’t just happen you have to choose to be better each and every day.
Each and everything had to happen just as it did so that each one of us can be who we are.
The remarkable creation we are.