What's Inside Keeps Them Around

The beauty in the discovery of past lives is something I’m always fascinated by. I was never one that was interested in futuristic stories or movies. The last time I went to a Star Wars-ish, Fantastic Four-ish type of movie, I was asleep within the first ten minutes. I’m just not moved by the stuff. But give me a story showing the growth, the struggle, the survival, the triumph of the human spirit and you will keep me fascinated from beginning to end.. I especially love it when the stories are true; told by someone who received the gift generations later like with me with respect to my family and other’s who carry stories from so long ago and pass it down.. I always tried to get my mother to speak about the past and anything she may have learned from those that came before her but many times she would say she didn't remember or she would kind of brush me off. In the end as she battled cancer and found the end of her journey to be right around the corner, she began to open up and tell me more about the past. She didn't share all that she could and when I pressed for more details, she stopped. That's the one thing we didn't have in common. She held onto or suppressed so much that she couldn't remember stories. Me personally, I love to share any and all stories that I know about family, friends, experiences and anything else that reflects lives that have been lived hopefully to the fullest and even those that dont live it to the fullest we can learn from. Some miss out on their potential and others stifle any potential by embracing negativity, jealousy, and selfishness. They're everywhere among us... But imagine this, looking into the eyes of someone who is coming to grips with their own mortality as they watch a loved one whose days on earth could be over very soon. They smile and open up by sharing stories of the past. You watch as they find comfort in rediscovering the experiences and I felt really blessed to listen in. The human spirit on display, finding pictures in forgotten places and discovering hidden thoughts that resurface out of the need to feel closer to what once was... better times and places....