Terri Rivera
Colusa County Behavioral Health
Addiction Treatment Specialist.
We make history in every minute of every day. As soon as you step forward, with every movement of that clock, you have just made history. What do you want to leave behind? Will it be a path lined with soft lights and beautiful color? Will you leave sparkling impressions of the steps you took? Will it be dusty, dark, and with dried foliage? Will there be black vines that left scars and scratches that you can still feel? Have you looked back and learned from events and choices of the past? Did you appreciate and show gratitude to those that helped you with the memorable moments?
You may feel you have no regrets – or guilt that will interfere with your path moving forward. Unfortunately, we all have something in our history that makes us wish we had done something different. It may be minimal, yet a decision or action exists that you wished could have been different. No matter what is behind us, it should not stop us from moving forward, making better choices, and lighting the path ahead of us, so we know where we are going.
Historic events may be iconic and forever memorialized in books, statues, or unforgettable, even unforgivable events. Events never change but the beliefs, views, and opinions about them may. The event will always remain the same: unchangeable and out of our control.
I have certainly learned through my lifetime that the one thing I had no control of was time. I lost a lot of time in my addiction; wasted time that I will never get back. So now, I try my hardest to make every day count. Even in recovery, we have to move on. It is no longer waking up each morning worrying about staying clean and sober. It is waking up each morning and living a better life, without allowing the past to define your future.
Sixty minutes in an hour, times 24 hours, times 365 days equals 525,600 minutes that we leave behind us every year. It’s also the same amount we have in front of us as each year passes. So, do we repeat the past? Yes, if it was healthy and productive, and something we could pass on to the important people in our lives.
If it was not, then we move forward making better choices. You decide how to respond to the events you face. It is what you choose to say and do with the time ahead of you, and what memory you want to leave for others to look back on. The key? Surround yourself with those who will support you, and will be glad to see you succeed; those that add a little sparkle to your steps moving forward. ■