Anarchistbanjo's World

We each have an inner child. When was the last time you let it out to play? Within our memories of the past lie the solutions to living a happy life. At the age of 60 I’m only now beginning to let that inner child out once more. I had forgotten how to have fun! The burdens of a heavy life had turned me into a serious and introverted loner. But now I’m learning all over again how important having a little fun really is!

I’m learning that when I don’t take myself so seriously I don’t need to take others as seriously either! I’m beginning to see the humor in the insanity that surrounds me on a daily basis. But let’s return to that child for a moment.

You see, the future never really gets here! It always remains just a little bit out of reach no matter how hard we struggle to grab onto it. We live in the present moment and the present moment is eternal. The future is always the future, the present moment is always the present moment, but we can change the past and in changing the past we change the present moment as well!

You’re going to tell me that we can’t change the past. Well here are a few things to think about. The secrets of living a rich and adventurous life lie within the memories of our childhood ready to be awakened at any time. It’s up to us if we want to laugh and play or be serious adults with the burdens of the entire world upon our shoulders. By reclaiming those memories of happiness and adventure we can really learn the pleasures and enjoyments that we once knew. This is one example of how we can change the past.

I’m going to give another example that doesn’t really fit, but in a strange way I think it will prove my point. I have four children, one daughter is the oldest, then a pair of twin girls and my son is the youngest. One day not long after the twins were born my eldest daughter was so excited that she picked one of them up and was bringing her to me. She was so proud and happy that she could hold the baby. But to my horror I saw that she was holding the baby by the head! I grabbed the baby away from her and swatted her one time on the rump, the only time I have ever struck one of my children. To this day I am haunted by the look in her face and the hurt in her eyes as her happiness vanished into tears. She didn’t understand that she had done something dangerous that could have hurt the baby. She probably doesn’t remember that event. But if she did her memory of the past would be much different than my memory of the same incident.

The same incident might mean something different to each person involved and they will remember it in a different way and each way of remembering has some truth and some distortion. That’s why witnesses at an accident can see the same accident but tell it in so many different ways. We can change the past by changing our understanding of what happened. We can learn that our parents may not have wanted children right away. Birth control might not have worked! There are thousands of ways that we can change our past through a deeper understanding of our life experiences. My girlfriend may not have rejected me because she didn’t like me, but because she wasn’t ready for a serious relationship. Can you see how that would help me to feel differently about myself and about her?

Changing our past can be one of the most powerful and effective ways available to us to open doors in the present moment!