On a podcast recently, I heard someone ask, “If given a choice would you choose to hit the pause button or rewind button on your life?” What would YOU say right now? The question got me pondering. If the pause button is chosen so one could linger a while longer in certain times/places of their life, that may sound great. However, that would mean missing the things that did/could happen while the pause button was on. It would take away the curiosity and potentiality of “what’s next!”

If one chooses the rewind button that could also sound wonderful to “do over” certain things. One of the problems with that is the people we are now is because of all that we went through to get to this point. If we rewind and do things over, then that would change other things and the people we are right now in this present moment would not exist. Plus, think of all the experiences one would NOT want changed from those years-they would not exist either.

To the surprise of the interviewer, the person who was asked the question on the podcast said he would choose neither. He wanted to be in the present moment where everything happens. Through memories, those experiences-that one wished they could have stayed in longer-are still present in a person’s life. They hold some form of love in them, and love does not die. That love can be used in the present as a tool in healing and recovery.

Those things in the past that one would choose to “do over” often became some of the most treasured life lessons and would not want to be given up. Integration of the past creates much healing, and the wisdom of those experiences are brought into the present. In turn, which gives us greater capacity to more fully, freely, and non-judgmentally live our lives and inspire others in the present.

The present is all we really have. The question is: what do we choose to be and do in this present moment? And the next-and the next-as life continues to unfold…

Cheri Thomas

Cheri works as a Peer Support Specialist for RI in Arizona. She has experienced loss and grief which has led her to write for the masses to bring voice to those in similar situations. Cheri possesses a deep passion to share with, encourage, and inspire others on what she calls the Journey of the Heart.