Monday, September 20, 2010

Can you forgive yourself and start another day?

“Tomorrow’s another day” is the famous comment from Scarlet O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind.” This was perhaps one of the most powerful and dramatic endings to any story ever told. Most of us were touched by these words and few who have heard them will ever forget them. Have you ever wondered why these words were so powerful? Why do they touch us all somewhere deep in our soul? I believe it is because they blend an element of self-forgiveness with recognition that each new day is the possibility of a new beginning. Self-forgiveness is evident, because Scarlett is not going to spend a great deal of time in self-recriminations. She is simply going to start again.

The new day “tomorrow” represents for Scarlet is a new start to life. It is her resurrection and her birth. Each day we can choose our life, our goals and our behavior. The simple but powerful phase “tomorrow’s another day” allows us to be reborn. It allows us to become free of the past and to start a new beginning. Each day of our lives offers us this possibility if like Scarlet we are willing to grasp it. We can have a new life or we can have an old life. We can continue on the path we have chosen or we can find a new path. Each new day can be a risk but life is a risk. Without risk there is no change and no chance to live more fully. We wake up each morning to a new set of choices. Each choice offers opportunities and each opportunity has its own set of risks.

How many of us do not realize the inherent possibility that tomorrow brings for us? Do you see each tomorrow as a new beginning or as more of the same? What will it take to help you realize the hidden possibilities in each new tomorrow? Do you start each day with a sense of joy at the opportunities it presents? Why not?

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