Simple-not simple truth – Nobody’s perfect, yet we are ALL perfect.
We all make mistakes, and we all endure painful, sometimes unbearably painful experiences. These experiences change us, there is no denying that. But how our experiences change us… That is what matters.
It’s true that there’s no way to avoid pain (or huge mistakes) in life, but here’s where the problem lies – when we begin to identify with our painful experiences or our mistakes, integrating them into our vision of who we think we are now.
But let me say this –
We are NOT our mistakes, and we are NOT what happened to us in the past.
We so often force ourselves to re-live our painful experiences, over and over in our minds, trying to figure out what went wrong, blaming ourselves, or otherwise torturing ourselves by “living in the past,” instead of living where we are… Here. Now.
It’s as if we subconsciously believe that by forcing ourselves to re-live the pain, we can somehow change what happened, or hold onto what we lost.
I’ve tried. It doesn’t work.
But maybe our tendency to look backwards has an unexpected benefit… If we can look back as observers, without letting our past experiences draw us into the cycle of self-torture – maybe we can learn a few things from who we “used to be.”
Think back to what life was like when we were young children – we naturally released our mistakes and painful experiences, letting go, moving on and living in the joy of the present moment. We approached every day with a sense of wonder and genuine self-love… we truly believed we could do anything!
Children have so much to (re)teach us. When we observe the way a child approaches life, the way they live in this exact moment, not the one that has passed or the one yet to come, we see that life is magical, in all its joy and pain. Children instinctively know they are a part of that magic. We all are.
We are still who we “used to be.” We were born perfect. Every single one of us. Regardless of our mistakes or the scars we wear, we are still that same perfect soul.
When I sat down to write AND THEN SHE FLEW, I knew all of this in theory. But it took a decade more of life’s challenges, some of which brought me to my knees, before I was able to live the lessons and finish the story. The lessons continue for me, as they do for all of us.
But our struggles do not define us.
I repeat –
Our struggles do not define us.
Here is what I believe – If we can find a way to get back to that innate, innocent wisdom and unyielding self-love we possessed as children, we will once again realize how perfect we are, and we will once again instinctively know how to let go and love and truly live… in THIS moment.
I believe we can.
Much love, Jen
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