“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

 Have you ever been reading a book and something shared by the author hits you like a ton of bricks?  I mean, it’s so compelling and true to your soul that you have to read that passage again?  And again?  I, sometimes, use a highlighter to save it so that it doesn’t get lost within the pages. When this happens for me it usually initiates great change in the way that I choose to live my life.  One of the greatest gifts is what my teachers have given and what I’ve taken as my own way to tell my story.

I used to view my life as a collection of stories where I would play the victim’s part. Bad things would happen to me and around me and I’d say things, like, “Well, that’s just my luck.” And when I said that, my subconscious mind heard every word. And I’d believed me.  I’d tell the story of my childhood, complete with every unfair, and nasty little detail. For a while, I even went to talk to a professional so that I could dig even further down into the rabbit hole of misery and feel it all over again. I walked through my days feeling bad about myself. And what’s worse, every chance that I had, I’d shared the details with all who would listen.   

Then one day I found the book that changed it all. It kept popping up and I’d see it everywhere I looked. Finally, I grabbed it to keep me company on a long road trip. It was an audio book called the Secret, by Rhonda Bryne. I listened to it over and over and grabbed treasure from it with both hands. That book led to another and another by different authors. And the reason I kept digging in, is because the written or spoken words became the roadmap that I needed. Instead of blaming events in my childhood on others, I realized that that was my childhood and I’m no longer that child. Jack Canfield taught me that everyone has a past. Everyone has a bad memory of their childhood…whether they choose to live their lives through the eyes of that child or not is their choice. What do we want to accomplish in our lives? What will be our focus?  Will we lament the loss of a perfect childhood and blame our inadequacies on our mothers or fathers, or will we wipe our feet and walk on? It’s been years since I’ve thought of these things. I’ve filed it under “Oh, well, so what.”

These days when I speak of my childhood, I have glowing memories of neighborhood play and lots of friends. I have wonderful memories of family dinners in our modest little kitchen and the smell of fried chicken. I have holiday memories of our big happy family parties and actually knowing all of my cousins and aunts and uncles, because they were there to share my life.  When I talk about my childhood, it’s joyous and full of wind in my hair and dirt on my knees. It’s cookies in both hands and a milk moustache. And it’s not because I’m burying anything, as has been suggested, but because bad memories live in yesterday and that is where they belong. They can only play a part in any today, if I invite them back in. I Don’t. It’s that simple.   Regrets waste precious time and I don’t dwell of them. My teachers taught me to replace what makes me feel sad with what makes me feel happy. Music, glass, writing, singing, baking, reading, talking to family and friends, laughing, watching Christmas movies…all make me feel happy. I fill my life with these things.  When a bad thought floats in, I see it, recognize it for what it is, don’t give it any attention, and wave goodbye as it just floats right back out.

No, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows, but damn near.  I can’t control my every thought, but I’ve honed the skills that I need to create an incredibly happy life. And I do that by filling it with joy. People ask me why I’m always smiling, and am I really this happy…I am!  And still I pinch myself…How can this be…coming from where I’ve been???  There are just more and more things to be grateful for. And it all started by knowing that it’s all in how you tell your story. Your subconscious will believe your every word. Choose them wisely. You have the pen, what’s your story? One bad thought brings the next just as one good thought brings the next good thought. And doesn’t that feel so much better? I sure think that it does. Have a great day. Decide it now.