Chapters

As I often think about the many years of my life, I think of them as Chapters of a book. You may ask this question, "Why would one think of their years on Earth as Chapters"? Well for one every year brings a new or unique experience. I have discovered in my own life ,that it doesn't matter how old I have become or how much I may seem to know. There is always something new or someone that is unique in their own way that surprises me. As we grow older each of us experience things that we never thought would happen. As I speak for myself I never thought that I would grow old. I had this crazy notion that I would always look or be young forever. I also thought that everything I dreamed about becoming and everything I envision would come to pass. Many of us have those childhood dreams, believing that we may go to college, marry our high school sweethearts and live happy ever after. I had those same dreams, thought that when I got married to the woman of my dreams that I would stay that way forever or for a lifetime. Boy was I wrong! Now divorced its just another Chapter in my life and I had to moved on. I also had a dream that when I had children of my own, that they would be perfect children and I would be a perfect parent. But as you may know nothing in life is perfect but God. That is what life is really about moving on going through the good or the bad then leaving it behind. As my late grandmother would say it ," Baby you just  have to go on, but while going on use those past experiences to help shape you into a better man . She would go on to say ,"Never let those bad experiences scare or deter you". Always stay determine and never let or allow bad things from the past keeping achieving or accomplishing your dreams. Life is about over coming all of its obstacles. Climbing then reaching mountain top's, dreaming, then realizing your dreams. Yes life will present you with many obstacles, but if you are smart enough to avoid developing bad habits and strong enough to over come your fears, then with faith in God you can do almost anything. Its just a part of life and its already written. Those who handle life as it is are the ones that become successful. But those who complain are the ones that are stuck in the same place this time next year. Learn from your failures or mistakes and become better. Then forget about those bad chapters in your life and create good or new ones. Because as long as you live, you continue to write new chapters and  then create new beginnings. As I think about my late grandmother's very wise words, I now know that she is both wise and  right. I  know now, that I can not let my past effect my future and I shouldn't allow my bad experiences,  keep me from achieving my goals or from being blessed. I just  have too take everyday as it is or every year as a new learning experience. I have too  keep an opened mind, that way I allow myself to learn new things and open myself up to new possibilities .(Even the things that I am not interested in) Because what I have found is that sometimes past life experiences sometimes can help me avoid trouble and it may also let  me know if something or someone is good enough to pursue.

In all of our lives we have things or certain situations that could help or hinder our lives. In my own life I experienced a painful divorce, lost a job that paid me good money, had to move to another state, had car trouble and that's to name a few. But I didn't allow life circumstances or bad situations change me or who I was. Instead I  just kept my faith, believing in God and knowing one day soon it all would be better. I never gave up, because my son depended on me and just because my life was hard I didn't want that too affect my sons life. My advice to anyone who may read this, never use your past experiences as an excuse or a reason not to succeed, but instead use them as motivation. What do I mean by this statement? Many times many of us ,use our past as reasons why we haven't remarried, found someone special to love or we use them as reasons why we haven't been successful. When in fact those reasons are only an excuse and not a real reason not too go on with your life. Yes throughout every ones life, there will be many disappointments or failures. But instead of using our past experiences as reasons not to succeed, we all should instead become more determine not to fail.  Look at those experiences, like God looks at our lives, as another year or another Chapter in your life. If you are blessed to be still living, there is a good chance that you can or will change your life for the better. Look at your past experiences good or bad as learning experiences. Also look at your past years as a road map to help you avoid trouble or as a guide to help you take advantage of things that may make you a success.  Like my late grandmother would always say, the more you grow in knowledge, the more wise or successful you will become. As I look at my own life, I live it with this one positive thought in mind. I survived another year with the grace of God and now that I have learned from my past failures or mistakes I will not travel that same route or road again. What I have also learned is life itself, is a leap of faith. First you walk , then you fall, then you get right up and try harder again. My late grandmother used to always say, It doesn't matter in life how many times you fail. What really counts is how many times you get up from your failure. She would say, "Never give up, never stop trying, in fact try harder and pray more often" ! And when everything you do or try  fails, then lean on God for the strength and understanding. From the knowledge passed on to me from my late grandmother, parents and others, I  use that same knowledge or wisdom, to make the next Chapters or years of my life, the best ever.
Have a wonderful day,
Charles
Ezekiel 36:25-26
I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you ,your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.