Truths of Realization

© Courtesy of Dianne Sonksen

Reaching into my box of writings from way back, I found a journal entry from 2004, over 22 years ago. It was titled Truths of Realization. As I read, I thought I could have written this yesterday. Some of these truths, I now understand why I wrote them then, and some are still very true with no expiration date. What an essential story to share, especially as I step into this new year.

November 23, 2004
Spiritual Journal Entry

They are:

*No matter how many times I am thankful for all my moments, it is not enough.

*A cup of hot tea or coffee first thing in the morning is a luxury of self-indulgence one should not deny themselves.

*During the pre-winter months, when the sun hides behind the clouds, one can still see it by looking at the yellow and orange leaves that have not fallen from the trees yet.

*Cutting into a lemon and studying the intricate details makes me aware that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, our Creator is alive and well. Who else would care what the inside of a lemon looks like?

*Home is where you are if peace and security reign within.

*When one raises children from a very young age, who they do not bear, the heart doesn’t know the difference. When one dies before you ~ your heart grieves, and it grieves for the rest of your life.

*When one bears a child and gives them up for adoption, their heart grieves, and it grieves quietly for the rest of their life. Our mind understands, but the heart does not.

*Siblings that you’ve grown up with, laughed, cried, and fought with will change. The closeness once shared as we grew into adulthood might only be cherished in our hearts' memories.

*Deep, close friendships have to part when one decides to marry, but the foundation of their closeness remains in each other's hearts, no matter how hard we try to deny it.

*When two people marry out of friendship instead of need, the marriage is real, respected, and not taken for granted.

*Taking one day at a time makes the world not seem as crazy and in control of us.

I have come to agree that I have helped and guided many people ~ from teenagers to senior citizens. I’ve helped them see and feel the Good, the Holy, and the Beautiful that they genuinely are. I’ve also come to agree that I have changed lives and that I live within their hearts.

Why do I know this?

Because they have told me, and now I have chosen to listen. Why? Because I am tired of belittling myself and holding on to the negativity of my past that has told me differently, and to think this way was conceited.

I have made many mistakes in my life, but I have come to respect them as learning tools that help guide others and myself. I am basically a good person, and my center has always been Love, consciously or unconsciously.

I have taken this Presence — this Love — on my unhealthy paths as well as my healthy ones. As two of my closest friends have told me, I would not be the person I am today if I had not gone through every experience I have thus far.

Presence is constantly showing me, through others, that I am on the exact path I am supposed to be on, and I am doing the work I have longed to do from the moment I took my first breath, and I believe I will until my last.

There are things I feel I have come to terms with, especially in relationships.

Siblings, past friends, and our children ~ All change! Either we accept those changes and allow them to be who they are now at this time in our lives, or we let this change make us bitter. Bitter doesn’t work for me, embracing change does. Even though the ego tells a good story why it’s okay to be bitter.🙄

(A side note here, have I forgotten that I have changed too?)

I think, for me, when I see all this change in them, it frightens me, because I feel that life will get in the way of remembering how close we all were to each other.

My siblings will forget “our story” together and the strong bonds we formed as we went through all those hardships, fears, and laughter. I’m afraid they will forget “our memories”— that no one else knows but us.

Yes, as I grasp this thought, this is it.

And I’m afraid my children, now adults, will forget how much I loved them from the moment I held them in my arms and into my life. And how I will deeply love them long after I leave this Earth.

I am afraid my friends will forget how much I love them.

And most of all, that I will forget the beauty of it all.

But, as sure as the sun is shining through my window and the tears falling onto this page as I write, the Love that is always with me, will make sure there will be no forgetting.

I believe tears are unspoken words from the heart. If we were to take just one from our cheek as it falls, place it in our hand, and open it, what would unfold and be released into the air above, exploding in bright, beautiful rainbow colors would be all our fears, joys, losses, and memories. We would then understand entirely why we feel and love the way we do. And the Universe would celebrate!

My sweet Creator, thank you for creating me and all of us, for loving us the way only You know how. I really do love the person I am ~ the heart that I am. And to deny myself respect of this is denying the beautiful child You see me as and created me in. I have had the grace to have loved so many hearts in my lifetime, and to have trusted me to guide them to see their lives as the positive gift they are!

And — thank you so much for moving with me through my life. To experience the incredible relationship between my husband and me, who gives me the space needed to grow and explore the world alone and together with no strings attached. He is not only an excellent teacher to and for the world in the work that he humbly does, but his gentle, understanding, patient ways remind me of You daily.

Most of all ~ thank you for putting people in my life who love me unconditionally, who remind me that I am never alone, and that You are within me through them, always, never changing—always loving, no matter what the human side of me does in this world.

And, so it is!🕊️

I set the journal down for a moment. And reflected ~

Wow! I have really grown, expanded, and evolved over the past 22 years. I am in Awe. It is only February of the New Year, and seeing the changes, then what has shifted in my foundation and what is solid ~ the smiles of my heart are overflowing. Not just because of the changes but because I am now aware of them, and as I adjust to those changes, an alignment bends and moves to settle in next to who I believe I am, who I know I am beyond a shadow of a doubt in 2026.

And you know what?

If I am still walking around here in 2036 (gulp), I hope my foundation will be so much larger for all the alignment bending and moves it takes to adjust the new and improved ‘me’ as I step into my 80th year.

Wait! My heart just started beating quickly here—not that eighty will be a scary thing—when I’m eighty, but, obviously, at seventy it seems to be!

We will see.😉

Thought to ponder:

Where in your life are you being invited to take a pause
and listen to what your heart has always known about you?

Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Thank you for reading or listening, I appreciate you.💖 Have a beautiful day.

©Terry Pottinger 2026