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THE UNBURDENED HEART
Life begins and ends so fast that we sometimes lose track of which
direction we are going. It is easy to forget that our lives began
void of perception, therefore void of recollection. As we grow and
develop our perception of the real and the fantasy, we store that
which is dear and important to us in recesses of our mind.
Remembering something specific, such as a birthdate or telephone
number, is required only because of the desire for an action or
response, and our memory serves us as it should. But all things that
are remembered are not so specific as a telephone number. Lifes' joys
and crises affect the desire to remember what has happened through the
years and those things are actually remembered. We feel a glow
from within as we share the holidays with family and friends, and we
identify that happiness with something that is real so that we might
remember the glow and feel it once again. Moments in our lives that
cause us heartache and grief are not remembered in this way. The pain
in our hearts disappears and we only remember the event. Sometimes,
there is also a feeling of sorrow, but never to the extent that would
cause us to react as if it were happening all over again. Everyone
will, by nature, remember best that which caused more happiness and
forget that which has caused more pain. The funny thing about all
this "remembering" is that we don't always know that we are remembering
anything. Our place in this realm is controlled by our perception
of where we fit into the "big scheme" of things. We develop this
picture of ourselves and our surroundings by dealing with each new
experience according to like or similar experiences from the past and
the fashion in which we handle those experiences and whatever its
outcome was, favorable or not. After each life occurrence, we add to
our pool things to be remembered and slowly forget those things
from long ago. But we never truly forget something because we
experienced, we lived and dealt with it, and whatever it was, it
changed us and our perception of our world. After a while, it is
possible that one can become "overloaded" with such memories. When
this happens, we need to purge those feelings from ourselves that are
caused by memories that hold us back from continuing to grow and live
our lives. We cannot always tell ourselves "hey, forget it." Sometimes
these feelings are so deep rooted that it takes some unrelated
incident to initiate this purge of unwanted feelings and free us to
continue to grow and live. Who we are never really changes, but how
we deal with the events in our lives will always change. No one is
so shut off from the world as to remain constant from day-to-day.
Release yourself of those things that weigh you down and you will
enrich your life and those around you to the fullest. Only with an
unburdened heart can we show someone else the true feelings that we
keep locked inside ourselves.
William N. Simpson © 1985,2001
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