A FLash Memoir of Shame

 
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Linking up with Marvia Davidson for her {Real Talk Tuesday} post. I know it's Friday, but I have some things to say and the time to say them. And the link-up is still open! Glory!

Shame: The Flash Memoir

1. I tried. It was difficult. (Shame at the difficulty.)

2. I tried. It was difficult. I failed. (Shame at the failure.)

3. I packed up my dreams. (Shame at the action.)

4. I took my dreams back out again. They were dusty. (Shame at dust and time wasted.)

5. I tried again and it was still hard. (Shame at the challenge.)

6. I got tired. (Shame at the frailty.)

7. I got sick. (Ashamed of being a burden.)

8. I was loved anyway. (Glimmer of hope.)

9. Confidence grew. (Shame’s power shriveled.)

8. I was loved still. I was told to never stop trying. (No room for shame.)

7. I learned to rebuke shame. (And I did not have to do it alone.)

6. I learned to embrace the difficulty. (Shame is out of place.)

5. I learned to see failure as new possibilities. (Take that, shame!)

4. My dreams are worn with loving use. (No dust here.)

3. Shame, where are you? (It is so small now.)

2. No matter what, I am always loved and valued. (Learning.)

1. I feel the power of all things new. (Shame did not win!)

I have a story. I have many stories woven together into my story. There is light and there are shadows. I acknowledge the shadows. I acknowledge the things I wish I could change. I cannot turn back the clock, yet in many ways I have begun again. I am being renewed. Shame and love cannot coexist, so I am clinging to love, because love is the thing that is true.

Are you ready to move forward today? Are you ready to start anew? Throw off the burdens of shame, and tell them they may not follow. Step into the new beginning, the new chance, the new mystery of living life today. If I am only ever looking back, I cannot see the path I need to walk. Will you join me in embracing this moment as a new opportunity to create the lives we dream of? May we always pursue hope, one step at a time, leaving shame in the dust. It shall have no more power here.

Do you have some things to say about shame, too? Add your voice here.


 
Jamie Bagley