Meet Harper. She is almost two years old and is the daughter and granddaughter of our close friends. We recently had the opportunity to spend several days vacationing at the beach with Harper and her family.(Have I told you that l love the beach?) The cool thing about Harper is that she has no baggage. She doesn’t make decisions based on her experience from past years. She is not insecure. She doesn’t intentionally hurt others emotionally. Her thoughts are straightforward and her motives are pure. She allows others to help her when she is in need. She lives for the next interesting thing. Every day is a new opportunity of growth and discovery for her. Best of all, Harper gives great hugs!
As 2020 begins, I realize that in our grown up world, we all have experienced hurt, pain, illness, loss, poor leadership and a host of other negative encounters that may skew our perception of life and hope. I am not attempting to minimize those difficult journeys, but many times we allow our circumstances to define who we are becoming. We allow the past to control our future.
I'm not one to set New Year’s goals (because they don't last, but that's another story). But what if we adults took a page out of a toddlers' handbook for this next year? What if we chose to live our lives in the present? What if we allowed ourselves to let go of the things that bind us to insecurity, selfishness and poor leadership? What if we chose to look at each day as an opportunity to grow through good times and bad?
If I were going to set a New Year's resolution, it would be to imitate Harper a little more. I think I'll start by getting one of those good hugs from her!
Choose to let go of the past and look to the future and you will make a difference!
Larry
Harper
