What lies behind us, and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
On the surface, this quote is kind of hard to believe. Where you came from can be so important, it can shape who you are. What lies before us, our goals are also equally as important, it’s what you are shooting for. Then with deeper thought, I kind of started to get it. Yes, where you came from is important, it doesn’t have to define you, or shape who you are. It can, but it doesn’t have to do so. Nor does where you are going have to shape us. 
Yes, it’s great to have goals, and to focus on them, but it doesn’t have to define you. There will be bumps in the road, and detours and such, but you learn to roll with them. But who you are right now, right this very second, how you feel, how you think, what you believe – your inner strength and fortitude is what does matter. And what is really cool about that, is right now is always changing so it you are not thrilled with who you are right this second, don’t worry, you can change it because the next second is coming.
My thoughts today:
Look inside yourself, that’s something everybody should do on a regular basis. When you do it, what do you see? I’m going to be honest, I don’t like what I see. I see pettiness, judgement, and crankiness. Of course I can also see kindness, caring and compassion. I’d like to think that the good stuff overshadows the negative, but I think mostly they just balance each other out. When I started this journey of being a more positive person, I had these pie in the sky visions of becoming this perfect, peaceful person who radiated love and happiness all of the time. As the years have gone by, I’ve realized that I’m not perfect, and I’m never going to be perfect, and more importantly, I don’t want to be perfect. I want to be me. When you look inside yourself, who do you see? I see me. A perfectly imperfect person who has room to grow and hopefully will always have room to grow. Look inside yourself, what do you see?
