I have been thinking all day about the idea of being reborn. Of the tradition which suggests we have many lives. That we die and then live again. The Easter story brings such possibilities to mind.
Of course it’s not only the Easter story that talks about rebirth. Or resurrection. There are many traditions which say we die and come back. I have been fascinated by Past Lives for forty years. But I also like the idea that I am reborn every day and can start again. There is another tradition in certain stories. That the world disappears every night when I close my eyes to go to sleep. Then pops back into existence when I wake again. I guess I’ve thought about that a lot. Because I’m curious. And I like to know how these things work. So I look for evidence all the time.
Yet I’m not sure I can find evidence for the destruction and reconstruction of my world every time I go to sleep. So instead I prefer to think about the opportunity I’m being given every day to be reborn. I can wake up and choose to be different than yesterday. That me has disappeared. She is gone. Only I choose how much of her I carry forward into today. I find that really refreshing. Also it frees me. I can interpret myself for today in any way I wish. I can start afresh. Will I leave behind my impatience? Or my desire to control? Will I do more random acts of kindness? Or smile at people a whole lot more? It’s exciting. Because what I set my intention to is what will happen, mostly.
Of course old habits take awhile to fade away. But knowing I can be reborn every morning to live my day a different way inspires me to try my best. To begin again with a clean slate. And to aim for the best from myself. Perhaps the world would be very different if we believed in being reborn every day.
Day 510 of my blogging challenge