John Denver was a great artist, whose songs touched many lives. John was a human being, like all of us. He had his own demons to wrestle but when he sang, he remembered his true self, the gift he was and he gave his best to us all.

His words were from within him. Like all of us, he too had his heart broken and he broke hearts. We have all made mistakes. We have had our heart broken and we have broken hearts.  Anyone who has truly lived, and is honest with oneself, will have regrets and mistakes.  But we have to move on from the broken pieces, and pick ourselves up and move forward and give the best we have of ourselves to ourselves and to whomever can accept us. We have to let go of the shattered dreams, the mistakes we have made along the way, and live in the present, live in today –in the NOW.

I think that sometimes we allow the negativity of others towards us stop us  from being our true selves. I think sometimes people are cruel to us and harsh — they remember our mistakes of yesterday and can never let them go. “Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.”They cannot stop themselves from cutting us down and throwing us into the flames.  And I know, I let those negative statements get to me, to the point I want to give up…because IF I am so evil, why should I be here?  That is WHEN the remarks have really gotten to my core…and I am shaken…and I cannot take one more negative remark.

Yes, I am wrong often… I made mistakes and I make mistakes everyday! If people only knew how much I struggle with myself about what I did, and what I didn’t do and perhaps should have done, I think they would be amazed.  Maybe if they knew, they would stop giving me a hard time. So, now I am saying it—but those people won’t be reading this.

It all becomes so overwhelming.

People can make seemingly innocent remarks, but the cut is there. It reminds me of the saying, “What we say to others is as important as how we say it.”

I know I am a very sensitive person and sometimes the words of others come at me with such force, I feel I am drowning and finally, I become like them, and return the frustration to escape. I just want to run far, far away and beg to be left alone.  [Then I am alone, and I can’t stand it! I am a social being].

But I am more than my mistakes. I am more than all I have done wrong. I have done good too and I would never intentionally hurt someone. I know how painful it is.

I just wish people everywhere would realize that what a person said or did yesterday, does NOT mean that the person is the same today. People change. I have changed.  IF we do not allow for change, we may as well just call it a day and then it is the end. I am not WHO I was yesterday and tomorrow again I will be different.

Hopefully, we constantly evolve and learn. We need to allow for change in one another. We must not pigeon-hole people. Some would say my next remark is way out in left field, but actually it is not. I am just thinking of people who commit felonies in our country. Many are “branded” at eighteen for the rest of their life! They will never have the job they want or could do, because no one will give them the opportunity. They do NOT allow for them to BE, because they once made a horrible mistake and were branded for life. Isn’t that crippling and wrong?

Most of us are not literally incarcerated, but in some respect we are. People hold grudges and imprison us with their attitude and words if we allow them. Seemingly very honest and upright people can make a person’s work situation hell, if they are in a position of power.  Jealousy and envy are as real today as yesterday and alive and well in the work place.  Church people can be this way too — “If you do not do this or that, you will be lost for all eternity!” For me, that is power and control and not allowing for the humanity of a person to be alive and think and make choices. When someone says, “You have been like this for most of your life, you will probably never be able to change”–WOW!  I have no room for that kind of person in my life…that much I do know!

All of the criticism in our world could stop, if we just would give one another a chance to be human…be allowed to make mistakes…to correct them…and begin the next moment like it was our first!

The only way to do this, is to understand what love is and to live love and love others.  As John says in his song, we cannot give up the dream…”Love is the only dream I know.”