There are days when, no matter how much growth you may have experienced, you feel as if you are back at the beginning of your pathway. This could be because of a bad relationship, a lost job, disappointment or any number of things. While numerous slogans and posters have been made to tell you to “Get Back on Your Horse” or “Hang in there baby”, most people feel a little hollow and forlorn. Much of this is disappointment in ourselves because of the fact that we KNOW what happened is not what we want but it happened anyway.
Realize though that this is not a setback. It is not going back to the beginning and starting over again. Rarely if ever do you lose the wisdom and experience you have gained since the beginning of your journey. It is still there, simply forgotten or ignored for a bit. This is not to say that things do not need to be examined from your own personal perspective. What caused the “back slide?” Who triggered it? You? Someone else?
As with any journey, it becomes necessary to understand not only where you have been and where you are going but also where you are. Living in the moment means not being distracted by the unchangeable or the unknown. It mean focusing your energy on living instead of dying. Returning over and over to the mistake, explosion or whatever happened does nothing but self-flagellation. Working from that position to move yourself forward though is absolutely essential.
We have the ability to shape our lives through our actions. Thought leads to words, words lead to deeds, and deeds lead to habits. An action repeated thousands of times becomes instinctual to the person. This includes behavior patterns (both bad and good).
Xiong Nai Xin Retreat 
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