Live, learn, forgive and move on

Life has taught us that we never get a second chance to change an event that has already happened. In real life there are no "do-overs." When a past event pops into our mind, we are often left with feelings of guilt, pain, sadness and regret. Since we are unable to go back and redo this event, it seems impossible to eliminate the feelings and thoughts we hold today.One of my favorite authors, Dr. Wayne Dyer, wrote a fun little book titled "Gifts from Eykis." Eykis lives in the planet Uranus. One of the implements they have on this planet is called a "Guilt-Prodder." Anyone who is feeling guilty about an event can use the Guilt-Prodder to go into rewind and redo the event, eliminating any guilt.I am sure some of us would like such a time machine so that we could scroll back in time and correct long passed events. The question is, however, would we do it differently the next time? We just might do the same thing over again, because we would be returning in time to the wisdom we had at the time. We probably would make the same choice.Most of us have at one time or another said, "If I knew then what I know now?" This statement is a good sign, for it means that we have grown in wisdom and would not do what we did before. It does not change the past event. However, it does open up a second chance for us. It now gives us the opportunity to change our reaction to what happened.When we have a healthy reaction to a negative experience, we neutralize the negative effect that experience may have on us. When we approach life in this way, we realize that changing our reactions to an event is about as good as changing the event itself.If we do not give ourselves another chance, if we do not change our reaction to the experience that disturbs us, we will live a lifetime of regrets and never be at peace. We need to remember that our reaction to an experience is always more important than the experience itself. Experiences come and go, memory is with us for a long time.When we invite God to work in us, and in creating a new reaction to an old event, we are empowering ourselves with a power that fills us with a sense of peace, love and forgiveness. With this Higher Power working with us, we can forgive ourselves and anyone else who needs to be forgiven. With a new sense of peace within us, from this "second chance," we are now free to have a life filled with wonderful experiences.