Imagine life in the present moment as a flame, a blazing fire that lights up the dark. The past is just all the ashes from what has come and gone and been transformed by the universal blaze of living. I don't know about you, but I suspect that, like me, you don't collect the ashes from your chimney, or any outdoor fire, pile them up, and spend time staring at them. By contrast, I can watch a roaring fire for a long time. It's mesmerizing. But ashes? No. not at all.
Trying to hold on to the past is like collecting the ashes from the fire of your life and grasping them in your hands, and watching them, and taking in their aroma. What's the point, or the enjoyment of that? We all have some memories of great things past. We also have recall of hurts and difficulties we've lived through. And such memories can often be a proper part of our present. But we should never allow the joys of memory or the rawness of some recollections to pull us back to times that no longer exist and things that are no more. We're meant to face forward in life, not backward. We're meant to let go of the past so we can embrace the present and reach out to the future. That's our calling, and our destiny. To do any differently is to impede our learning, and our growth. So, let go of the past. It was what it was. And now you have a present. It is what it is. Releasing what's gone allows you to relish what's here, or perhaps what's yet to come. The future is our destiny. But the only step we can take to get there is in our present.
Note: This is a second in a new series of blogs on topics of request. Have a concern for me to write about? Just let me know!
