Erasing Decisions

Memories, all those little experiences make up the fabric of our lives.  I wouldn't want to erase any of them, tempting though it may be. 


~Ben Affleck


"THE GIFTED MAN" is a television show I happened to be watching last week.  I listened to a conversation between a medical doctor (neurosurgeon) and his deceased wife, also a medical doctor (head physician at a free clinic).  Apparently, they had had a less than perfect marriage and the wife who is a ghost, asks of her husband, "Would you want to erase all of those years together?" 

There are many times in our lives we may wish to have an eraser to delicately erase a situation in our lives or perhaps roughly smudge it out.  If we look beyond the moment, however, I believe it would be in our best interest to let life unfold on its own without our censorship.

Repressing experiences or thoughts is not healthy for anyone, so I am not suggesting to do this.  I am suggesting to explore the difficult situations, extract the lessons, and earmark what good accompanied the situation. 

When I examine what erasures I would be tempted to make, divorce almost always rears its head; but where would I start erasing ... before the marriage, during, or after?  If I erase the entire marriage, I would also be eliminating my children.  If I erased the location of that part of my life, I would also be erasing a few close friends that have remained 'sisters of my heart'.  So if I would just erase the dysfunctional elements of the marriage, would I still have learned the lessons within that made me who I am today?

One time, I purchased a bottle of Roundup to kill some weeds invading my driveway.  I thought this to be a perfect solution as I was not one to extract weeds at leisure.  This would give me a permanent solution and it would be so much faster.   Then I read the instructions and cautions.  Slowly questions began to form in my mind like wily weeds creeping into my yard.  What if this poison killed my grass or thriving flowers?  What if future plants could not grow in the tainted soil?  Would there be chemical damage to mother earth herself?  My mind wouldn't stop.  End result was I didn't want to have this kind of power, to use a fast solution that really might have unforseen permanent results.

If havoc is running rapid through our lives, it is tempting to erase it; but only in the moment.  As we look with hindsight, we see with different eyes.  Yes, we would do things differently if we had the chance, but if not those particular lessons, surely new ones would replace the old.

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have the time to do it over,"  asks John Wooden. It does seem to me when we miss a lesson, life is more than willing to run it past us one more time, only a little bit more challenging to secure our attention.

It is the same when viewing the lives of others.  No matter how inviting some one else's life may look, I don't want it.  I never know what challenges they face and I would really rather just deal with my own personal set.  I figure I am learning what I need to know coming from the Divine.  Spirit uses a much wider lens and creates greater intention!