It was raining today. When I came home from buying groceries I sat in the van for a few minutes to listen to the rain. I could see the rearview mirror but the reflected image was blurry.

Trying to see the rearview mirror in the rain is like trying to see the past through the fog of time.  My attempts to understand the past won’t change my future. No matter how many times I try to understand the past, my future won’t change unless I take action. I can’t become better at drawing by thinking about an art class I took decades ago.

There are no art canvases I can paint in the past. If I keep looking backwards all my art will be in my mind.

What can we do today to be different?

The past defines us, but today will become the past, when we wake up tomorrow.

So, sitting in the van today, I realized I need to look out the front of the car, and change my past by changing today. One day at a time.

We can change our past one day at a time. One moment at a time.

Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny.
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

I made the quote from Steven Pressfield as big as WordPress will  let me. Or maybe I should tattoo it on my arm, or spray paint it on the living room wall.

We can change our lives. Our past doesn’t have to define us. What happened to us yesterday, last week, and when we were children is part of who we are. But it is not the only definition that applies to us.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Take a deep breath. And change your past. Tomorrow when you wake up, the second you are alive right now, the moment you are reading this story, will be the past tomorrow morning. It will be the past, in five minutes.

What will you do with your five minutes?

(I am not going to clean the seven litter boxes)

xo
Pamela

Writing every day for the month of March with hundreds of other writers at two writing teachers.com