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Today's
Meditation:
How
have you "renewed" yourself today? Have you
done anything new or different that you might have feared
doing in the past? Have you read something that gives
you a new perspective to consider, or watched a movie that
may be at odds with some of your deepest-held beliefs?
Have you listened to a person with whom you don't really
agree, or considered a newspaper editorial that expressed an
opinion that doesn't sit well with your own? There are
many ways that we can grow and move on, and if we don't do
so, we risk a great deal.
I
had a friend once who lived in the past--all of her
conversations revolved around times that had been years
earlier. She listened to music from that time, and she
remembered the movies from that time. Mostly she
talked of people she knew and things that happened in high
school. Ironically
enough, to hear her speak those times weren't all that good
to her--they weren't happy, and a lot of very negative
things happened to her. But somehow, they were safe to
her, and focusing on the past allowed her to deal with her
todays.
But
she wasn't growing, and it seemed as if her mind had
stagnated, caught in some sort of pool of murky, dirty water
that didn't flow at all, just lay there in a puddle that
grew less and less fresh and inviting every day.
We
need renewal. We need to refresh ourselves--we can't
just assume that it will happen automatically without any
effort on our part. Some of the most important lessons
that I've learned have come from sources that I thought I
would hate because their views were so completely different
than my own. But I don't want to rigidify and become a
person who hangs on to a "supposedly happy past,"
not seeing the beauty of the present.
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