I see only the past.
I love a good live action replay. Some days, when I am going about my business, I even repeat the things I’ve said or done over and over again.
Why did I SAY that? I think. Did I actually just comment on that out loud??!!
Oftentimes it is not the actual words that are damaging (well, ok, sometimes I have foot in mouth disease). But my thoughts about myself after I say these things that are really kicking me in the pants.
In fact, for a long time, I had a running joke with friends that every time I would ask about someone’s relationship-they would comment they were getting a divorce. I called it divorce-dar (aka similar to radar, only detecting divorce).
But it wasn’t always my ill-timed comments that would break the situation. It was my self-talk afterwards. The story I told myself about what I had said. And, let me tell you, it isn’t always pretty.
I can’t believe you would say something so stupid. They probably feel terrible now. How COULD you?
On and on the dialogue ran. Endlessly it sometimes seemed.
But Lesson 7 reminds me that there is another way. There is always a choice. A chance to choose again.
We often do things out of habit. It is the definition of kharma in action. In order to break these cycles of behavior we have a chance to see beyond the known. And gaze into the love we can find in the future. Because if we are only seeing the past-especially when I allow it to go on repeat-we are inviting more of the same to enter our lives. And that’s when I become a victim to a cycle of self-loathing or disappointment.
The past is not your present. You are only this now moment in action. And every single thing you see around you is only a remnant of an old story you have moved beyond.
YOU are Divine. You are light and love personified. And you are the miracle that makes worlds happen. THAT is your destiny. That is your future. Leave what’s passed in the past.
And recognize that seeing the Divine in all things-including our kharmic lessons- is the path to the greatness you were destined to live.
Namaste Dear Ones.