“You shouldn’t have said the truth.”
That’s what my wife declared after I shared this story with her…
THE SUMMER BEFORE YESTERDAY
I’d just finished helping a wonderful family load up their moving truck. That’s when I offered handshakes, hugs, and the parting words of “farewell forever.”
“Don’t say it like that!” said the mother of the moving-away family.
“Come on, let’s be real. We didn’t even hang out when we lived in the same state,” I said.
That’s when the moving-away mother started talking about the future. She shared how she’d see my wife the following month. She voiced how my wife loved the city her family was moving to.
All I could think was that my wife was at work, and I was the foot-in-mouth fool standing before her proclaiming, “farewell forever.”
And damn me because I wanted to shove my second foot between my jaws and speak the rest of my truth…
My truth being that the moving-away mother and I hadn’t seen each other for at least a year, maybe two or more. My truth being that despite our mutual respect for one another including genuine care for each other’s families, her moving truck was the sole reason we saw each other prior to her departure.
Except my truth can be a real pain in the azz, so I suppressed my mouthpiece.
THE PROMISE OF TOMORROW
There’s a lie inside the power you give tomorrow.
Because you often tell yourself there’s “later.” You tell yourself you can make up with loved ones “in the morning.” You convince yourself that you can focus on your dreams “next year.”
It’s not just your lie though, I’ve lived the same one.
Silly me though because I didn’t feel like I was lying on that past summer day when I encountered the moving-away mother and her loving family.
Yeah, maybe she was confident that we’d meet again. And maybe we will.
But maybe we won’t.
So maybe I believed that “farewell forever” was an honest goodbye based on our patterns of yesterday.
Of course, I didn’t intend to be rude on that day. My truth just fell out of my mouth, and I certainly didn’t enjoy the conversation.
Another one of my truths: I’d rather try to live today’s nonfiction than the fiction of tomorrow.
THE TRUTH INSIDE TODAY
The reality is even the rest of today isn’t guaranteed.
That’s such a simple statement. Yet too many of us take its depth for granted.
So I encourage you to witness the truth inside this day of thankfulness.
Come on, it’s a no brainer to remember yesterday and be thankful for it. And oh my gravy, PLEASE find hope and believe in tomorrow!
But recognize that yesterday is gone, and the story of your life isn’t built on tomorrow.
So that leaves you with today…
Will you make heroic choices for yourself?
Will you support the characters inside the story of your life?
Will you serve today to begin building your storyworld of tomorrow?
P.S. I can’t let this day pass without giving a shout out to a man from my past who impacted the man I am today. Read last year’s Thankful post by clicking HERE.