Allowing Change

Theresa Powers sat with Sherri, Samoya, and Elle enjoying their weekly Saturday night dinner at Luguiz Morella Italian restaurant. Every third Saturday they enjoy Italian. As Sofia, their waitress arrived with the bill, Theresa grabbed it, and then said, “This meal is on me.”

“Why?” Elle demands. “Don’t we always pay for our meals?”

“Because this is our final meal together,” Theresa notified.

“What, you are dying? I told you not to eat that cake last week,” Sherri said sipping lemon water.

“I am leaving our sisterhood pact!”

Three forks dropped on plates and three female voices cried out, “What!”

Theresa rested her fork beside one of her meatballs and explained, “For the past two months, whenever we meet, all you complain about is all of the wicked and evil things everyone does to you.”

“But we are each other’s therapist,” Samoya said.

“You never listen to, or do any of the things I suggest, and your stories and the ones hurting you never change, but you all have!” Theresa pelted them with.

“How are we changing?’ Sherri demands, easing back into her chair.

Theresa did the same, her eyes on Sherri, “You are charging the poor parents of the children we tutor. The children are also complaining about how mean you have become.”

“I didn’t mean to, it’s just that I am tired of Kevin, my family, and others taking me for a fool,” she explained.

Theresa’s eyes shifted to Elle, “We agreed to use X amount from our salary to buy groceries for the elderly once a month because their social security and tiny pension weren’t enough. Mrs. Hill and Mr. Samuels haven’t seen you and they complain how rude you were to them when you bought the wrong tissue and milk the last time.”

“I had a bad day because of what my family did to me,” she complains.

Her eyes swayed to Samoya, who sighed, Theresa went on, “You know Mrs. Allen’s granddaughter is allergic to nuts and you still went and bought the wrong cereal. She could have died. What the hell is wrong with all three of you?”

“All three of us are experiencing hell with certain people in our lives,” Samoya explained.

“And you are sharing it with the people you are supposed to help. The people you care about that care about you. It’s affecting the best part of your life and changing you negatively,” Theresa alerts them of their behavior.

“But what can we do? These are families, and some of them used to be good people,” Elle elaborates.

“When Beverly cheated me and I almost lost my apartment and job, I forgave her. She came back, slept with my boyfriend, and stole my clothes and computer from my apartment, I forgave her again. Whenever she comes into my life, I lose something valuable and important. The third time, I lost my job at Fren Industries. I realized that when she is in my life, my personality is negatively impacted. The best part of me is gone and I become thoughtless, resentful, and almost cruel. I began to do stuff I never did. I began to hate myself too,” Theresa recalls pulling them down memory Mountain with her.

“I can allow the people in my life to change me and I hate myself. With that amount of hatred in my heart, the universe and my creator will not be able to connect with me. So, I made a decision. I can change and be unhappy like them. Or I change them and stay true, honest, kind, and thoughtful to myself. Without her and others in my life, I can be kind, thoughtful, and understanding, while helping to improve our world positively. I love that part of me. The universe and my creator can reach me to guide me along a better path. Anyone that comes into my life and throws me off the course that I am on while adding resentment, trying to corrupt my heart, I remove them.”

“But she is your sister,” Elle stressed.

“Does that mean I should allow her to wreck my life? When she is around, nothing goes right for me.”

“So you change them, not allow them to change you?” Samoya asked.

“Do you love where you are in life now?” Theresa quests.

“I love the relationship we have and the good things we are doing to help children and the elderly in our community,” Elle said.

“I love my job, our friendship, my boyfriend, and the way my life is, not the ones who are trying to wreck it,” Sherri adds.

Tears slowly running down, Samoya shared, “My life is better without them. I can do more to help others too. You are right. I can allow them to change me and I become hateful and unhappy like them, or change them and be loved and happy!”

“Then let us choose love and happiness,” Ell said.

Theresa stared back at the three pairs of eyes aimed at her, smiled then shared, “Then our Sisterhood pact to add only positivity to our world is back on track!”

You and I are Theresa, we can allow the cruelty and thoughtlessness of the humans in our lives to change us and become cruel and unhappy like them. Or we can change them and allow happiness and love in so that there will be no blockade when the universe and our creator are trying to reach us. The universe and our creator won’t be able to connect with us if hatred and cruelty is in our heart, mind, soul, intention, actions, choices and decisions.

If your heart could speak, what would it say?

You can allow the cruelty of humanity to corrupt your heart, or you can change the humans in your life and keep your beautiful heart. Annelise Lords

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed it.