Release the Past & Celebrate How Far You’ve Come
Day of Hope #131 - Monday November 13, 2023
Goal: Celebrate my life, release what I no longer need, and make room for what's next
Quote: “Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.” – Eckhart Tolle
November is my birthday month, and I love celebrating all month long.
My actual Day of Hope started with sleeping in until around 8:00 a.m. I did have to attend a 9:00 a.m. work meeting for a new computer system we were implementing, followed by a couple of errands and emails. Not exactly the peaceful start I had envisioned. But just like July, I wasn't going to let a little work take away my Day of Hope.
Once everything was handled, I took a long bath for more than an hour and officially shifted into relaxation mode. Later, I went to a friend's house to help her with some computer things and spend time together.
Then it was home for one of my favorite simple pleasures: Hallmark Christmas movies. It was November, so at least this time I didn't have to defend myself for watching Christmas movies too early. Ha!
The best part of the evening was when my daughter and granddaughter made dinner for me. We sat together and enjoyed our meal by candlelight to celebrate my Day of Hope. It wasn't an elaborate day. It was simply filled with little things I enjoyed, and people I loved.
Letting Go of What I No Longer Need
I also had two Reiki sessions this month, and both gave me a lot to reflect on.
During the first session, there was an image of an old library card being removed from between my ribs. The message connected the card to a painful period in my past, a time when I had reached a point where I knew something in my life had to change.
At one time, that pain had served a purpose. It pushed me. It woke me up. It helped me make changes that eventually led me toward the woman I was becoming. But the message that stayed with me was this: I didn't need to keep the pain just because it had helped create the change. I could appreciate what I had learned without continuing to carry the reminder. The library card could go.
Putting the Past in Its Proper Place
My second Reiki session carried a similar message.
Sometimes our biggest shifts happen during our hardest seasons. Even after the storm passes, pieces of it can continue swirling around for a while before everything settles into its proper place. That image made sense to me. I had experienced some big changes over the past several years. There had been pain. Heartache. Uncertainty. But there had also been tremendous growth.
The message wasn't that those difficult experiences hadn't mattered. They had. It was simply time to put them where they belonged: In the past. I didn't have to erase those chapters. I just didn't need to keep rereading them. Instead, I could continue building a practice centered around self-love, compassion, and caring for myself.
Look How Far You've Come
Maybe that's what this birthday month was really about. Not simply celebrating another year of being alive, but recognizing how much life had changed.
I was writing and publishing a book. I had created Hopes Highways. I had launched a website. I had just returned from an incredible extended Day of Hope in Hope, Idaho. And I was continuing to learn how to choose myself. There were things from my past that had once knocked me completely off my feet. But they weren't running my life anymore.
They had become part of my story, not the definition of it. And that felt worth celebrating.
My Lesson of Hope: You don't have to carry pain forever simply because it once helped you change. Honor what the difficult seasons taught you, keep the wisdom, and give yourself permission to release the rest. Your past can be an important chapter in your story without becoming the place where you continue to live. Sometimes hope is looking back with gratitude, letting go with love, and realizing just how far you've come.
