“Renew, release, let go. Yesterday’s gone. There’s nothing you can do to bring it back. You can’t “should’ve” done something. You can only DO something. Renew yourself. Release that attachment. Today is a new day!”     Steve Maraboli   Life, the Truth and Being Free

What are you holding onto that’s holding on to you?  In my case, ghosts from the past; decisions for which I wish I could have do-overs, relationship dynamics that I would like to change, job choices, health choices, conversations…. All of these experiences call out for a re-wind button, and yet, as sure as tomorrow is Tuesday, there is not thing one that I can do to alter what happened. Heck, even if I could, I wouldn’t want to mess with the space-time continuum. Who knows what havoc that could wreak?

I have often considered that if the me that I was had made different choices, the me that I am, might not exist. Had I selected another educational/career path, I might have lived in another part of the country, not met my husband, not adopted our son, not created Visions Magazine, not been with Michael as as he passed, not become a free lance journalist and speaker, not become an interfaith minister. I might not be writing this column, might not have the people in my life now that I so treasure. I say ‘might’, because there is some aspect of the soul contract idea that appeals to me, that tells me that certain relationships are ‘beshert’, which is Hebrew for ‘meant to be’.  Perhaps the events are in some form, mapped out too, as they seemed to be in one of my favorite movies:  Forrest Gump. He always appeared to be at the right place and the right time. I use that affirmation as well, declaring that I am always at the right place at the right time for whatever I most need to learn and grow.

I have discovered that whatever I hold with a closed hand (like sand or water), will run through my fingers and whatever I hold with an open hand and heart, I can, paradoxically, keep with me longer or allow to blow away into the wind. That includes my past and the people in it with whom I would preferred to have danced differently or  perhaps not at all. Sometimes it is better to leave them back there, rather than carrying them with me into a future in which they have no place. Maybe they needed to let go of me as I released them into their new lives.

Here’s to open hands!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcrEqIpi6sg Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell

Thank you, Arielle Ford…this picture connected to one of your posts was the perfect writing prompt for this entry.