I have a confession to make. I spoke too soon! While I did really well staying in Truth through the party and chaos of remodeling, I blew it yesterday. We have our Utah children to dinner every other Sunday, and yesterday I let the noise and chaos get to me and was a little short tempered. But the Good News! is that today is a new day and I can start all over. That is another important part of Living in Truth.
There is nothing I can do to change yesterday. I can’t take back the annoyance I felt or the impatience I displayed, or the sharp tone in my voice. What happened is done and I can’t erase it. But I can move on and do better today. If I were to fret about what happened, and let it vex me, it would only push me into the Pit of Illusion all over again. But if I forget about it, move forward with a determination not to do it again, and stay in the Realm of Truth, things get better.
The Truth is that there is nothing we can do about the past. We only have control of the present moment. But when I live the best I can in the present moment, my Savior will make even the past right—that’s what repentance and the Atonement are all about. So today I am moving on in Truth.
Thank you so much for this. I tend to dwell on these feelings and it just makes things worse. Shake it off and do better the next time.
ReplyDeleteI like this post a lot, because it reminds us that while we are not perfect, we can continue to try. It is in continually trying, and not giving up, that we perfect ourselves all that is possible for us. Wasting time beating ourselves up just slows the process down. On a side note, however, I have never seen you be short or impatient with anyone, so I'm having a little trouble seeing you that way. Everyone has bad days, but you're one of the most cheerful, positive, even tempered people I know.:-)
ReplyDeleteCathie
It's easy to become short-tempered when things are noisy and chaotic. It happens to the best of us. And I appreciate your thoughts on not dwelling on the past and doing the best you can in the present. :)
ReplyDeleteRepentance takes care of the past, Heavenly Father takes care of the future. All we have to take care of is the present.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that we should not beat ourselves up for our mistakes/sins, but we should remember to truly humble ourselves, try to make amends or restitution and show forth an outpouring of love. Yes, we should only let our sins bother us enough to bring us to repentance. If we try to just move forward without true repentance, those little wounds in our souls can sometimes fester and poison us.
I forgot to put in the step of Repentance - confession. Confession to those we have hurt, confession to our Heavenly Father-asking for forgiveness so that He can cleanse us.
ReplyDeleteThe repentance process is so beautiful and frees us from the chains that the adversary would bind us with.