The Hot Cider Lesson about Leaving the Past in the Past
Posted on February 25, 2016 by Keri Cooper, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
A life lesson about the importance of cleaning out the influence of our past so it doesn't still our joy of today.
In the beginning of a New Year a lot of us (including myself) spend some time reflecting on the previous year and what our hopes and expectations are for the year ahead. Some people (unfortunately not me) clean out closets or file cabinets. But sometimes it’s more than old clothes or papers we need to part with.
I recently had a funny incident with my niece and nephew. I had taken them to see the Blue Santa parade (an Austin tradition after thanksgiving). I thought as a special treat I’d take hot cider and cookies to snack on during the parade. While watching the bands and floats go by, I offered some cider to one of the kids. He quickly said it “smells funny” and refused to drink it. Well, this kiddo is a picky eater and is known to refuse perfectly good food so I ignored his complaint and give the cider to his sister. His sister made the same complaint (with accompanying scrunched up face) and refused to drink it. Now I was getting frustrated – I’d carried a whole thermos of cider through the crowds and chaos to give them a special treat. I decided to prove them both wrong and drink it myself. What do you know….it did smell and taste funny. Turns out, I used a thermos that I normally used to transport coffee and what the kids were smelling and tasting was old coffee residue. It became clear that the thermos needed a deep cleaning.
The whole situation reminded me that sometimes things that have happened in the past can influence our experience in the present. Though the coffee had long been gone, its influence was still present. Are there some situations that you experienced this past year that need to be eliminated from your sphere of influence so that they don’t carry over into this year? Grudges that need forgiven? Wrongs that need to be dismissed? Pains that need to heal? If so, purge them. Decide that you are not going to allow them to affect your future. Take whatever steps you need to take so that the negative experiences from the previous year do not have the power to take away from your joy this year.
As for me, I had to apologize to two of my favorite people and hopefully make it up to them. I have a feeling they’ll never want cider at my house but maybe I can make it up to them with cookies?
