u/FrontenacRacer

Last night my wife and I had a date. We went out to eat and then went to play blacklight (miniature) golf. You had to make your way through the throng in an arcade to get to their course.

The golf game was great. It was just the two of us in there for all 18 holes, dim lighting, peaceful.

Making our way through that arcade with all the neon flashing machines, people shouting to be heard above the loud music and beeps and squauks, was such a sensory overload. It looked like they were all having a great time. But I'd never be able to handle it, lol.

Something hit me.

How do we learn to live mindfully?

(Meaning living in the present.)

It's necessary to our mental, physical, and spiritual health.

It is common to think often of past mistakes and foolish things we've done.

Our embarrassments affect us so.

Or we live in the future,

anxious about what might be.

The way to be in the present, mindful,

is to be so self-forgiving

that it dismisses feelings

of embarrassment.

When we are no longer embarrassed by past behaviors,

we tend towards the present.

This also helps with our anxiety about future behaviors and experiences.

Why is this self-forgiveness necessary?

Because unless we forgive ourselves, now, this moment,

for everything previous, we cannot achieve a healthy self-image. Without a healthy, self-forgiving, self-image; we cannot repent effectively.

"But I can't self-forgive until I master this inappropriate behavior," we say. "And, I cannot repent of it until I master it."

Will we need to keep working on unhealthy coping behaviors? Sure.

So we hate ourselves for our past, and we don't repent because we've put that off until some unknown future time.

And we sit and spin our wheels here in the present.

Self-forgive.

Not partially.

Not conditionally.

Completely.

Permanently.

Now.

Not today.

Now. The peace that comes with self-forgiveness is staggering.

❤️

I've been feeling a bit of mania coming on. It won't become too extreme, I've got great meds, but everything is funny tonight.

My wife made salsa and was putting it in the freezer and I started singing,

In the free-zer there's salsa,

Gonna' please her with salsa! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

We'll see how much sleep I get tonight