“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
~Steve Jobs
Several years ago, a lesson crossed my path. In less than two months, the tragedy of 9/11 occurred, my husband moved out, and my father passed away. I had four children, aged four to fourteen, dependent upon me for love and daily care. I was working two jobs and taking 12 units at the local college. I have often heard that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. I was beginning to wonder if my demise were not imminent as I was feeling weaker by the day.
Time passed and hurts became more bearable. I was starting to hear my inner voice, it was no longer crying in pain but beginning to get stronger and clearer. I was learning to trust my intuition again and felt buoyed up by possibilities. Time stops for no man...,
or woman. I had to keep up, the alternative was not an option. I heard the voices of those who said I was a fool and those who said I would never make it but they were soon drowned out by those who cheered me on.
Time marches on.
The lesson I learned?
Have no regrets. Time, does indeed, march on and in an instant, life as we know it can be forever altered. 9/11 changed the course of 9/12. The following Father's Day, my dad and the father of my children was gone.
No regrets. Living with regret pulls you out of time and you are left with only that, your regrets. Accept who you are, where your life is, those that you love, the day with which you are blessed, and know that tomorrow waits with hope and delights.
A Chinese proverb states:
"If you get up one more time than you fall, you will make it through..."