Wouldn’t it be nice if we each had a “reset” button? What if there was a button we could push and just start all over again? Computers have them, cell phones have them, and even my hair dryer has one. Why were humans not created with one also? I’m sure God has His reasons.
As you read this today, you have a history. You have lived life to get to this point in time. You’re at a location on the path of life that no one who has ever lived has ever been at. You were created special and you are one of a kind on your journey.
Within you is a bundle of feelings and emotions and experiences that make up who you are. And who you wake up as today will directly impact what your experience is with your life today. With every step you take, you carry your history with you. Within you is ugly baggage as well as awesome tools for success. Only you can choose how much you let your history and your gift set control your today.
Something in the past that has happened to you causes you to be anxious about something coming up in the days ahead. Someone expects something of you and you aren’t sure you can deliver or not sure if you even want to deliver. Family is coming to visit. You have a big event on the horizon at work. Maybe you are heading up an activity in the weeks ahead.
All of this (and much more) make up this thing called “life.” Today you look forward and today you look backwards. Unfortunately, looking either direction has the power to rob you of today.
I think history is important on our journey of life, but I also think that for most people it can be the biggest hindrance to living life to the fullest today. Remember, today is the only day we can truly live.
I think of the saying, “If I could kick the rear of the person who keeps me from accomplishing what I need to be accomplishing, I wouldn’t be able to sit down for a week!” In other words, we can be our own worst enemy. I believe we are our own worst enemy.
Couple this with the concept that 97% of what we fear never occurs.
If God gave you the ability to live today as a 10 out of 10, why would you not choose to reach that 10 in the day ahead? Clearly there are external issues we can’t control, but even when the 10% of life occurs that we can’t control, we choose the 90% of how we respond.
Regardless, maybe, just maybe, our failure to reach a 10 today is because we do it to ourselves. Days that should be 9’s and 10’s turn into 2’s and 3’s.
Several years ago I saw the movie, “The Shack.” It is from a New York Times best-selling book written by William B. Young that was number one for 70 straight weeks. The movie is about an angry father and husband. He had every right to be angry, no question about that. But just because he had the right to be angry didn’t mean he needed to hold onto his anger and ruin his life and the lives of others around him.
There are many examples of people who live life angry. You are probably thinking of someone right now. Again, the issue isn’t do they have a reason to be angry, it is that they choose to not address their anger and try to rise above it. I am not saying it is easy, only critical. Living in anger is not good for the person or those who interact with the person. It lowers the quality of life for everyone.
I believe we were created to live life with joy. We were created to experience a 10 in our quality of life as much as we are able. I believe we let life get in the way by regularly holding onto something in the past that hinders our experience today.
What is sad about this is that as we drag the ball and chain around step after step, day after day, we have the key in our pocket to unlock it and to walk free. It is a sad story of a person’s life for them to choose to drag the ball and chain rather than to use the key.
Turning anger into joy is a daily (and maybe an hourly) choice that each of us has to make, but it is accomplished by repeatedly putting on a pair of glasses that give us a healthy world view.
I know, this is easier to say than it is to do, but as Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “hate destroys the hater.” It’s like holding a glass of poison in your hand, pointing at another and with hatred saying “I want this poison to ruin your world” and then drinking it yourself. Oftentimes the one you’re pointing at has no idea that you’re wishing harm on him or her. How do you feel when the person you want to have poisoned has a great day and your day is miserable?
You need to do the best you can with the three foot circle around you and let others take care of themselves. Don’t take a possible 10 day for you down to a 3 by wishing harm on another. If the past is helping you accomplish what you need to today, hold onto it. If it is destroying you day after day, let go of it. Throw away the rearview mirror.
My challenge to you today is to live every day you’re blessed with to the fullest, with as much joy as possible. That doesn’t mean you aren’t “kicked on your rear” from time to time or that your average day isn’t something less than 10. But it does mean that if a 10 is attainable on any given day, and that you try to reach it. If there is “ugly” in your life that has been put there by something in your past, maybe today is the day that you need to reinvent yourself. Let go. Drive a stake in the ground and move forward.
You may need to push your reset button today...and you may need to push it again tomorrow. Your current and future life experience and the life experiences of those around you will improve instantly.
Just a thought...
Rick Kraft is a motivational speaker, a syndicated columnist, a published author, and an attorney. To submit comments, contributions, or ideas, e-mail to rkraft@kraftlawfirm.org or write to P.O. Box 850, Roswell, New Mexico, 88202 - 0850.
