Today Is What Counts

Are you one of those people who absolutely hates the thought of change - even miniscule things, like a simple routine altered, new furniture, or even Facebook’s new timeline? I’ve never seen so many people say, “I hate this” when anything changes - and then weeks or months later, they’re used to it (accepted it) and cultivated to the new way. Isn’t that much like life itself? I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately and how life has changed so drastically from just a few years ago. For a while, I was in denial, trying to hold onto something that has already passed me by. When we hold on too tightly, the more it slips out through your fingers. I received an email the other day from this full moon website. It tells you the phases of the moon and other interesting info regarding it. The email read, “A short thought on the subject of 'forgetting'. Normally, it is looked at as being negative – you suppress, you lose, you miss … At the same time, there has to be something salutary in it, to forget and therefore gain a distance to your own past. However, at the same time, it is important to take responsibility for one's past, which only works if it remains in the consciousness. How can this be reconciled? We suggest another word: 'I unlearn my past.' This contains another quality. Knowing what was, without being shackled to it. Being able to think about past events without agitation nor illusion. This leads to inner freedom.”

To “unlearn” your past isn’t easy to do, but what it implies is: you don’t have to be a slave to your past and that good memories are fine, just try not to replay those images over and over and over until you just can’t let go of them. We become too chained to our past, too focused on tomorrow and yes, we “lose and miss” out on today. That’s all that matters. Even when I pray, I start out by saying, “Just for today . . .” I don’t pray about tomorrow’s events, because I’m not sure I’ll even be here. I pray about today. I used to live in my past way too much. I was a clinger, as I call it. I hung onto everything from my past and it destroyed my current moments. It was hard to even try to enjoy the day without reminiscing, remembering, regretting or missing the past. One of the best prayers to overcome being a prisoner of your past or future is this: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardships as the pathway to peace, taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will (God’s plan), That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him, forever in the next. Amen.”

Live in the ‘now’, forget your past and don’t rush your future. You might miss out on today. Today is what counts.

For more of Deb's articles, please visit: www.debrapasquella.com