I remember the moment so well. It was so freeing! So needed. My body needed to feel myself articulate the following words. Although I was saying them to thin air, my soul heard them and thanked me, “Dear People from My Past, If I had it to do over again I would do exactly the same thing because that’s where I was then and I couldn’t do otherwise. And quite frankly, I’m sick and tired of beating up on myself for not knowing everything then that I know now.”

“She turned to the sunlight And shook her yellow head,And whispered to her neighbor_ %22Winter is dead.”

Condemnation for things you did in your past leads to such a negative vibrational state. Most of us did the best that we knew how to do in that moment, with that particular level of awareness, and in that vibrational state.

Instead of walking in condemnation and guilt, let us change how we view our pasts. Instead of feelings of regret that can often plague us, let us come from a space of gratitude for how those mistakes, failures, and bad decisions helped us to grow and become who we are today. May we be thankful for the expansion and soul growth those experiences and relationships provided us. May we be thankful for the contrast that caused all parties involved to expand and grow as individuals.

I am learning to appreciate that expansion and strive in every conscious moment of every day to be in alignment with who I really am. Why? Because I want to see the beauty that I know was present in those situations then that I could not see because of where I was. I want to be aware so I am able to see the beauty in my present circumstances.

There is a saying that states, “In your pursuit of happiness, don’t forget to be happy.” Let us not get so caught up in needing something more to feel complete, happy, or to feel a state of health, life, and vitality. May we appreciate and recognize the value of the moment we are currently experiencing and find ways to be grateful for what lessons are to be learned in them for our soul’s growth, purification, and expansion.

And when we fail in the present, let us not look back and beat ourselves up for not knowing what we now have learned from the experience. Without the experience, we would not know a better way, a higher truth, and would not be one step closer to the truest and most authentic version of ourselves.

All my love and deepest gratitude,
Misti Rains Howell