Remember This

While visiting my dad on his 89th birthday, he took me back to his bedroom to stand in front of an old family portrait they have hanging on their wall.

It’s the one where I have braces and am wearing some big, odd shaped glasses and an awkward dress. I’m about 14 years old.

It’s actually hard to look at.

Then my dad says, in his sweet Italian accent with his curved finger pointing to me in the portrait, “What do you want to say to that young girl?”

Flooded with emotion, I stood there wondering what he knows about asking this deep and powerful coaching type question.

Unable to address the question in that moment, I took a picture of the portrait and have been pondering it ever since.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I’d say some pictures come with a million memories. Or, maybe it’s certain memories that we replay in our minds a million times over.

I suspect, at times, our memories get twisted up, exaggerated or taken out of context.

I believe we also make up stories, in our minds, that we attach to certain memories. While the stories may not even be true, they can impact us greatly.

If the goal is to Feel G(o)od now, I believe the power lies in how we look at the past.

Going through awkward stages is part of the journey.

Remembering that I was loved all along the way – as we all are – I can now look at that picture of me, for the first time, and see the inner beauty shining through.

Wow . . .

“You are loved.”

Here’s to more WOW Moments!

Lucy