Life can sure trip you up sometimes.  We are moving right along with each task throughout the day and somewhere down the line we realize we got off track…. I’m speaking from a spiritual sense. 

We may still be going to church…. having our devotions and lifting things up in prayer but then one day we realized that we have allowed the enemy to creep into our minds and still our joy… he tells us lies that we begin to believe and WAM… we are off track.

How many times has this happened to you?  It has happened to me many times but I have to admit that this time around it was a doozy… I have so much that is swimming around in my head right now that the Lord has been speaking to me about and working on in my life and I can’t wait to share it.  I know that I am not the only one that the enemy has been working overtime on but for now I wanted to share this story with you that I found:

Leaving the City of Regret

I had not really planned on taking a trip this time of year, and yet I found myself packing rather hurriedly.  This trip was going to be unpleasant and I knew in advance that no real good would come of it.  I’m talking about my annual “Guilt Trip.”

I got my tickets to fly there on Wish I Had airlines.  It was an extremely short flight.  I got my baggage, which I could not check.  I chose to carry it myself all the way.  It was weighted down with a thousand memories of what might have been.  no one greeted me as I entered the terminal to the Regret City International Airpot.  I say international because people from all over the world come to this dismal town.

As I checked into the Last Resort Hotel, I noticed that they would be hosting the year’s most important event, the Annual Pity Party.  I wasn’t going to miss that great social occasion.  Many of the towns leading citizens would be there.

First, there would be the Done Family, you know, Should Have, Would Have and Could Have.  Then came the I Had family.  You probably know ol’ Wish and his clan.  Of course, the Opportunities would be present, Missed and Lost.  The biggest family would be the Yesterday’s.  There are far too many of them to count, but each one would have a very sad story to share.

Then Shattered Dreams would surely make the appearance.  And It’s Their Fault would regale us with stories (excuses) about how things had failed in his life, and each story would be loudly applauded by Don’t Blame Me and I Couldn’t Help It.

Well, to make a long story short, I went to this depressing party knowing that there would be no real benefit in doing so.  And, as usual, I became very depressed.  But as I thought about all of the stories of failures brought back from the past, it occured to me that all of this trip and subsequent “pity party” could be cancelled by ME! I started to truly realize that I did not have to be there.  I didn’t have to be depressed.  One thing kept going through mymind, I CAN”T CHANGE YESTERDAY, BUT I DO HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE TODAY A WONDERFUL DAY. I can be happy, joyous fulfilled, encouraged, as well as encouraging.  Knowing this, I left the City of Regret immediately and left no forwarding address.  Am I sorry for mistakes I’ve made in the past?  YES!  But there is no physical way to undo them.

So, if you’re plannon a trip back to the City of Regret, please cancell all your reservations now.  Instead, take a trip to a place called, Starting Again.  I liked it so much that I have now taken up permanent residence there.  My neighbors, the I Forgive Myselfs and the New Starts are so very helpful.  By the way, you don’t have to carry around heavy baggage, because the load is lifted from your shoulders upon arrival.  God bless you in finding this great town.  If you can find it – - it’s in your own heart – - please look me up.  I live on I Can Do It street.

~ By Larry Harp

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