Twinkling

written by Jan

We all have things from our past that we wish had never happened, but we always have a choice in how we respond to such experiences.

The things that people said or did that hurt you (and vice versa), or the things they did or said that encouraged you, you can use to analyze your behavior with others. You know how it feels to be laughed at. You know how it feels to get a reassuring smile.

Bitterness vanishes automatically when you look at your bad experiences with a positive eye. Seeing the positive lessons learned from bad experiences, turns them into stepping stones instead of stumbling stones. You rise above them and they can no longer drag you down because you're standing on them. Sometimes it's a struggle to stay on top of things, but that just builds character.

Then, as the years pass, our choices in life can be "read" by others. You can see this just by walking down the street. Do a little "people watching". You can tell which people have grown wiser through their difficulties. You see the beautiful older people who didn't look at the rocks, but just stepped over them. Their faces are soft, their mouth is quick to smile and their eyes have a kind of twinkle.