{"id":543,"date":"2013-02-21T22:45:43","date_gmt":"2013-02-22T04:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lovingonme.com\/?p=543"},"modified":"2017-04-09T14:01:40","modified_gmt":"2017-04-09T19:01:40","slug":"past-you-better-stay-behind-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/2013\/02\/21\/past-you-better-stay-behind-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Past, You Better Stay Behind Me!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Girl<\/a>Ever have one of those experiences where it seems your past comes flying forward? One minute your bopping along doing your thing when out of nowhere someone tries to throw your past back in front of you. In a daze you\u2019re left wondering, what was that about?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what happened to me yesterday. Recently, I had been contacted with an invitation to join a panel discussion focused on conscious giving. I was really excited because the other panelists are women I respect and admire. This is my chance to really get back out there, or so I thought.<\/p>\n

But then I got news that one of the non-profit partners putting on the event was uncomfortable with me being on the panel because I worked at Komen. Evidently there are still some bad feelings about everything that happened last year with Planned Parenthood. Wow, I thought. Is that all they think of when they think of me?<\/p>\n

At first I took the news with my usual calm, pragmatic approach. I mean, what could I do? That experience will always be a part of my life. For better or worse, people will form their own opinions about what I should have or could have done. All I can do is move forward in the best way I know how, doing the most good I can.\u00a0 This opportunity was obviously not for me.<\/p>\n

But when I really thought about it, I got pissed. No, let me tell the truth. I got mad as hell. Who are they to minimize the mission of my life into a mere few months experience? How dare they value my contributions to the world through this singular lens? Did they not read the rest of my bio? Poo on them! I am not letting anyone else\u2019s opinion of me define my worth, or my value. I don\u2019t want to speak at their little conference anyway. Darn it, I am Loving on Me!<\/p>\n

After I got over my little spat of arrogant, self-righteous indignation I got a little sad. Of course I wanted to speak at the conference. My feelings were hurt because they couldn\u2019t see beyond the circumstances into the center of my heart. A moment in time from my past, which I\u2019ve worked so hard to put behind me, was impacting my present \u2013 and I couldn\u2019t do a thing about it.<\/p>\n

Have you ever been there? It\u2019s humbling knowing you can do all you can to move on, but in the end some people will never move with you. As I was drifting off to sleep my last thought was if they can\u2019t go forward, I guess I\u2019ll have to leave them behind.<\/p>\n

As I reflect on it in a much calmer state, I find that I\u2019m once again at peace. I refuse to stay sad about what someone else thinks of me. And for sure, I\u2019m not picking up the baggage of the past just because someone else thinks I should still be carrying it. Yes, it means that there may be some things I don\u2019t get to do \u2013 at least for now. While I don\u2019t like it, I can certainly live with it. This I know for sure \u2013 God knows what I need, when I need it, and He will provide it. He\u2019s given me some BIG dreams, and I believe that they will come true. My past better just stay behind me!<\/p>\n

I hesitated to share this with you given my desire to keep things upbeat and inspirational. But then I thought to myself, heck there\u2019s no use in me pretending I spend all day every day singing Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay. There are just some moments when the Zip-a-dee-doo-dah is gone and all I\u2019ve got left is day.<\/p>\n

No, it\u2019s better when we grow together and just keep it real. We all have days when we\u2019re just not our best selves. It\u2019s okay. That\u2019s when God does some of His best work.\u00a0 Day by day I\u2019m learning to focus on where He\u2019s leading me rather than wasting my energy on things I can\u2019t control\u2026Especially small-minded, pea brain people who won\u2019t let me be on their stupid panel\u2026I know. I know. What can I say? I am a work in progress!<\/p>\n

Y\u2019all pray for me. I\u2019ll do the same for you\u2026Keep smiling, and keep believing in your dreams.<\/p>\n

Loving on Me as I Love You! \u2764<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever have one of those experiences where it seems your past comes flying forward? One minute your bopping along doing your thing when out of nowhere someone tries to throw your past back in front of you. In a daze you\u2019re left wondering, what was that about? That\u2019s what happened to me yesterday. Recently, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sharing_disabled":false,"switch_like_status":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[204998050,114917237],"tags":[922,7816,204997597,122792808,59942,6663],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/girl-looking-behind-1.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4eAxC-8L","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8875,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions\/8875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}