Image courtesy of: Hans from Pixabay

I was in bed most of the day today, which is not a good thing except that it made me pause, in more ways than one.  I started getting a fever Christmas night and continued through today. As I lay there, I thought of how nice it would be to have my little Sophie-dog next to me to comfort me.  Once the fever started to break, I stripped the bedsheets, washed them, and sat in a chair in my bedroom. Thinking.  I realized that I need to learn how to live for the future. I hadn’t stopped to really process all that had gone on in my life since March 1^st.  Sure, I’ve taken small moments of time to grieve, and have had some all-out good crying sessions, I’ve even blogged about it, but I never really sat and processed it and thought of how to put the past behind. The pain, the ridiculousness of one family, one person, going through so many changes in less than a year.  It was a bit cleansing to soak in it and ponder it.  I processed how completely different my life looks than 10 months ago, and not just me; there are plenty of people in my family that are experiencing a completely different life than they imagined.  It is a little hard to comprehend.  Yet, I know there is a plan and a purpose for it. For everything. Even if I don’t understand it now. It is possible to heal from the past and live in the moment.

When people make or experience a change in their life, they never really know what chain reaction of events will follow. It’s like the very strange movie called The Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher. If you haven’t seen it; it’s worth checking out.  Ashton stumbles upon the ability to go back in time to change decisions he or others have made, but each change sets off a whole new chain of events he hadn’t thought about.  In real life, we sometimes wish we could go back and change a decision we’ve made, a choice, a piece of advice we’d given to someone, but we don’t know what affect that would have had on the here and now if we chose differently. We aren’t the authors of our life despite what modern media tells you. We can certainly make things happen; we can improve our education and our circumstances, we can change where we live or work, but we don’t get to dictate everything that happens to us or our loved ones.

Bad things happen to good people and vice versa. We don’t know why, and we likely never will, this side of heaven.  What we do know is that we have loved ones that depend on us, we have people who love us, we have responsibilities in this life, and we have a promise of the hereafter.  We are to do what we can with what we have, appreciate our blessings, take responsibility for what we are given, and not dwell on what is in the past.  That doesn’t mean we don’t remember the past and celebrate the memories, or sometimes mourn over them, but it means we can’t stay there. We must move out of the past and into our present to really live the life we are given.  Pausing from time to time is good. Reflecting on where we were, where we are headed, and where we are now is a good thing.  Living in the moment and enjoying the moment is healthy. As we move into the new year, I hope that you will pause on where you have been this past year. Reflect on what life has brought you into and out of. Decide what needs to be left behind and what needs to be nurtured. We are never guaranteed tomorrow so we should not dwell on it today, prepare for it but don’t dwell. What are you leaving behind in the new year? What needs to be purged from your life? What needs to be nurtured and cared for?  Who or what do you have, right now, that needs you to live in the moment?

As we step out of 2022, my wish is that 2023 brings you good health, happiness, and the ability to look forward with enthusiasm, contentment, and confidence.