Inktober Day 16: Stick to the Good Stuff

You know you can think of a few chapters in your own life that you hope no one ever reads, let alone out loud. These are the hard lessons learned and survived, the shameful moments, the challenges that still haunt us. These are the things you heard people say about you, when they didn’t know you could hear the conversation. These are the dark and dreary memories that pinch our soul when they come to mind. They bring us shame. They are the moments when we learned who we are and what we are able to endure. And they are the thoughts that we work to overcome everyday.

It may or may not be a comfort, yet these are also the chapters that made you who you are today. The failures, the flops, the tears and the pain. They all worked together to teach you lessons that have helped you become. You became a better person, more compassionate. They taught you that emotions are not all bad, some are there to urge us away from anger, while some are there to help us meter who to trust and who to simply endure. These painful times helped you learn what you could survive and how to solve problems. They girded your loins and strengthened your resolve. They are the mistakes that keep on giving us the gift of wisdom.

All of that sounds well and good, encouraging and it helps us put everything in its proper perspective. Until…one jumps up and bites you right on the tushie to try and make you feel less than. Well don’t let it! You have grown well beyond THAT moment, so don’t let it drag you back into the darkness. Hold your head up high and smile. Say, “NICE TRY!” then keep charging forward. Because if we keep reading the chapters that remind us of failure, how are we ever going to move towards success? And if we continually feed the dark side of our past, how are we ever going to have enough nourishment to energize our bright, beautiful future?

We ALL have things in our chapters that we want to forget, to not have people know, or even haunt us. EVERYONE has this…so stop reading those chapters. STOP THE MADNESS!!!! When that little tinge crosses your heart and mind, tell yourself something you are proud of OR say out loud the lesson learned from that painful chapter…then stop. Move forward with hope knowing THAT is in the past. Look towards the future and breathe a deep sigh as you congratulate yourself for learning the lesson and move on. Only you can control which chapters you reread, so stick to the good stuff!