Learning Until I Die!
A number of people seem to think that they go to school, get an education, pass all the tests, and the rest should be easy. Unfortunately, that thought process is way out in left field. The whole of life-from the moment of conception to the moment of death-is a learning process. Somewhere in between we suffer from the growing pains and trials. Our growth process is comprised of a series of creative ideas, heartaches, skills, devastating dreams, talents, broken relationships, and a lot of determination and right choices.
We are always in the state of becoming. We are heading in one direction when WHAM! tragedy comes knocking at our door. Now we are following another path, which ultimately will lead to another pathway and door. We are constantly opening and closing doors, and that is the way it should be.
During my short lifetime, there have been some roads I've traveled that weren't easy or comfortable. Yet, in the end I realized that they were needful for me to travel so that I could get to a better place, a better experience that was waiting to be revealed to me. I have discovered that if I wanted to enjoy inner peace and contentment, I needed to let go of those experiences or obstacles that were holding me back so that I would be able to grow and soar.
If you are a seeker of greater joy and happiness, then you, too, must be open and willing to release the past, forgive all those who have done you wrong, and forgive yourself, also, for the emotional baggage that has weighed you down and slowed your progress. People love holding onto their old ways because they are comfortable, familiar and feel safe. Yet once you become vulnerable and open to new possibilities, you soon realize and discover that all that old stuff was only wearing you down, making you sick and unhappy, and most of all stopping you from realizing the best of your life yet fulfilled. I often wonder why we fight so hard to hold onto the old when the freedom of realizing the new is liberating and fulfilling.
I encourage you to make time for yourself to reflect on your process of life, and begin to examine the direction that it is taking. Are you on the right path? Or are you fighting change, the process and the journey that has been designed for your highest and best good, and in the highest and best way? I heard someone say: "We all make choices daily. Some are positive and healthy, and others cause us to suffer.” I encourage you to choose wisely.
John T. Catrett, III
Scissortail Hospice Chaplain
306 N. Main St., Suite E
Bristow, OK 74010
918.352.3080