March 11

”Any person capable of angering you becomes the master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.” Epictetus

My personal power is something that I now realize has been too easy for me to give over to others. When I hold a grudge, when I resent where I am in life because of what someone else did or said, when I remain angry with another, I give them the power to control how I feel. I am learning that no one can make me feel, not happy, sad, angry or glad. My feelings are my own and while I am entitled to them, most are also not long-lived. My feelings are okay when they are a temporary response to a situation, but when I hold onto them, feed them, protect them, hide them, or lose myself in them then I lose focus on the present and live in the past. I need to move forward and one of the best tools for that is forgiveness. Forgiveness to me means taking back my power and not allowing myself to be controlled by past events that truly have no impact on where I am right at this moment. It does not mean that I condone what others have said or done, but there is nothing I can do to change that, all I can deal with is the here and now.

Affirmation I will live for the moment today; living in the past gives my power to others and holds be back from moving forward.