Today is the first day of the rest of your life

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life. I don’t know who said that, but somehow it makes a great deal of sense. To me it means that irrespective of how badly we may have screwed up yesterday, or last week, or last year, today is the day on which we are going to put the past behind us, not in the sense of brushing it under the carpet, but in the sense of not allowing it to keep making us miserable. We always have the choice either of being thoroughly ashamed and guilty about our past actions, or of looking upon our past actions objectively and honestly enough to be able to own them.” T. Mares, The Journey of Adjustment

Do you feel the lightness in this message? You and I have the chance every single day to choose again – how I spend my day, what decisions I make and how I behave. At the same time, it is not easy to be honest with oneself and to accept one’s own mistakes and shortcomings. But if I learn to do that, I don’t need to carry my burden as shame, regret and guilt. It feels like liberation, doesn’t it?

And yet… we never know when the last day of our Life will be. Our last actions or meetings or decisions or attitudes. Of course, they might be the last even without us having to die.

I wish for myself, again and again, that I act with my heart and impeccably, giving the best I can in the present moment. That my actions and meetings carry passion and meaning. For myself. I never know when it will be my last. And I am sure that if they hold meaning for me, I will also touch the world around me.

As a simple and somewhat foolish person I tend to forget this wish too easily and take myself and everything around me as daily and endlessly existing, self-evident things. And perhaps there is also a feeling inside me that it is difficult and burdensome – to give my heart all the time and to give my best all the time.

Until recently I faced moments in which I clearly knew that they were the last. I felt regret, remorse and sadness, but together with the decision to be present in the now and to give my best in what I still have, I felt FREEDOM and LIGHTNESS within me. The feeling was so BIG. I dived into it and realised that with this very decision I had freed myself from the burden of guilt and blaming, fear, expectations and hopes, excessive responsibility and at the same time giving away responsibility. There was no more time or space for any of that.

“At the end of the day, the greatest challenge for a warrior is to love life and everything life has to offer with a passion and yet at the same time to stand free from it all. For a warrior it is most excellent to be alive, but, equally, he does not abhor death. A warrior rejoices in being loved, but he is not dependent upon being loved in order to be joyful.” T. Mares, Cry of the EagleWhat remained were acceptance, gratitude, warmth and the joy and beauty of those moments.

Oh, if only I had known before… No, there is no space for regret.

I wish that I could act impeccably, giving my best from my heart and leaving free myself and my loved ones and all our moments.

“IN THE PRESENCE OF DEATH EVERYTHING BECOMES POWER, AND ORDINARY ACTS BECOME IMBUED WITH MAGIC.” T. Mares, Cry of the Eagle

With Love, Liisi