What are YOU going to do Today to Start Over
by: Velinda Peyton
I know you hurt
I know it was a devastating loss
I know it was long and painful
I know you stood by helplessly watching your dreams die and your world crumble
I know you feel life has disappointed you
I know you are depressed
I know you are completely lost in yesterday’s collapse
So you find temporary escape in self-destructiveness
You alienate the very people who love you while passing time with those who don’t care
You have drifted away from your values
You have now done things you regret and are ashamed of
Too much time has gone by that you have been living in this isolation
So you hide and sleep to escape into dreams that will never be
You blame and evade responsibility because nothing matters now
You take it out on the most important people in your life because it is convenient, harming relationships that should only be closer now
And in your escape into self-destructive living to numb the pain, you wake just to find that your world of hurt is still there…much worse than before
I know you feel like giving up
And so you waste another day you can’t get back in yesterday’s pain
While your real dreams and life are passing you by
This is no way to live and you know it
But I also know this…
As deeply as you hurt is as deeply as you will love again
That grief allows you to see beauty that you never noticed before
That you are frozen in pain only because you allow yourself to be
That your dreams are still alive, just different now
That expectations play a huge part in how you perceive disappointment
That life is not over, it is simply taking you in a new direction
That giving up is giving up on yourself and all the life that can be better than before
That the people who love you are suffering too from this misdirected selfishness
That self-destructiveness only makes it worse and longer
That life is amazing in how wonderfully it transforms after loss
That is astounding how much better things get after you are humbled by heartache
How beautiful the world is when you see it from different eyes after loss because you are now different
How you see the beauty and wonder of everything you never noticed before
How you cherish what you prior took for granted
How relationships become deeper
How life suddenly has a whole new meaning that is precious
That there is always tomorrow and tomorrow can be so much better…
Depending on what you do with it today
Destiny is not determined by what happened yesterday but by how you get up and recreate a better life today
It is determined by your willingness to say you matter irregardless of yesterday’s loss
That your dreams and future are worth the strife…not if, but…
Until they happen
So what are you going to do today to pick yourself up and start over?
Photo from: Christina Rasmussen, www.secondfirsts.com
