All I remember is today is #3 of my ‘Your ID Please!’ series.

 

remembering becomes you

 

That Moment

It’s bound to happen if you live long enough in the same town.  That moment when someone who contributed negatively to a difficult moment in your past appears before you.  That happened to me a few months ago.  I was in the middle of speaking when it happened.  It threw me off my game for a few seconds, then I waved and kept on with my speech. While I was finishing the speech I was also deciding how I was going to respond to seeing this person. I made my choice quickly and with confidence.  I knew exactly what I was going to do.

The Next Moment

When I was done, this person came over to ask a question.  We greeted and I did what I had chosen to do (and indeed had already started to do in my mind and heart).  I loved the person.  That is all I did.  

Love Lets In

They asked some questions about the topic, expressed some concerns about their ability to participate in our group activities and I responded with encouragement and confidence that they could. I asked questions about their experience in this area and they responded with a very profound and moving story of their life, with events, issues and challenges that would fell many a strong person.  But this person had battled back over many years and was now ready to take on this next challenge.  

Remembering The Future

I briefly wondered what they were thinking about as they talked to me. If they were remembering.  But I didn’t linger on that. I lingered instead on the future.  I saw this person’s success. I saw this person’s victory over their challenges.  I saw this person’s need for my help and I saw me being happy helping.  I was happy to have love in my heart.

When you have hate in your past, remember the future instead.

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Drawing by Marty Coleman

Quote by Robert Pinsky, 1940 – Not Dead Yet, American Poet

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By the way, if you share my blog posts somewhere, I always love finding out where they went, if you have the time to tell me. Thanks.