Letting in the Sun

Supposedly a winter storm is brewing and heading our direction. Again. What's with this ridiculous weather? I am itching for sunshine and long walks outdoors, burgers on the grill and rocking on the porch. I used to think winter was my favorite season. But I'm recognizing that I don't hold that to be true any longer. I like winter...in the beginning. I appreciate warm sweaters and hot drinks at any time of day. I love sitting by a good fire and listening to the blustery wind outside. But I appreciate these things for a short time and then? It's time to move on.

It's time to move on.

That actually reminds me of something I listened to yesterday. I heard a talk by this man named Dr. Dyer who is an author and speaker and professor and all sorts of other things who has experienced so much success in his life. He is so inspiring. And yet he was raised in an orphanage until in his early teens when he was finally reunited with his mother. He had so much anger in his heart that he struggled with alcohol and depression until he was 34 years old. At that time he was terribly overweight and miserable. He harbored much anger towards his father whom he blamed for his childhood. He managed to learn where his father was buried and so he visited the gravesite, fully intent on peeing on the grave. When he got there, he said some choice words to his dead father, buried there underneath the hard dirt, and then he walked away, got in his car and drove off. But that's where his story changed. He heard a voice telling him, Go back. And so he did. He walked back to the grave, sat down by the headstone, and had a conversation with his dad. He told him that he would choose forgiveness. He told him that he knew that most likely his dad lived with a lot of pain in his heart and that if he, Dr. Dyer, could know his dad's story, he would understand without judgment. He told his dad that he, from that day forward, would choose to love him.

And he walked away a free man.

Dr. Dyer talked about how bitterness and anger can rule our lives and create so much pain and anxiety for years if choose to stay there. He asked us, the audience, to choose something we are holding on to--even if it's just a small grudge--and then he gave us tools for letting it all go.

I was inspired.

And so today I am going to live with freedom. When I feel those feelings of criticism rearing, I am going to breathe...and let them go. I am going to laugh today and throw frustrations to the wind. I am going to embrace the positive and focus on dreams.

Today I will embrace the good things life has to offer, opening doors so sunshine can spill in.