When I took this picture, I made some comment about a path through the woods being the ubiquitous symbol for life's journey into the unknown. He laughed. If I wrote those exact same words, you wouldn't laugh because it's not what I said but how I said it that adds the humor. Tone sets the tone. That's true of many things. We can focus on the better or the bad side and our choice of focus will make us laugh or not. I want to be grateful for what I have and not spend so much time on what I don't have. It's a better approach, just a tougher one when you're not where you'd really like to be and you have no idea where the path is leading and it's been a long, long walk in the shadows.
It seems like there are constantly boulders in our way. Tough moments to work through, to get to the other side of. It's definitely the challenges in life that grow us up and make us stronger but sometimes don't you wish it was easier to push those rocks away? Skipping stones across a glassy lake is vastly different than fighting the rapids.
And then there's the tripping over things. Plans you make with great enthusiasm that look so good at the time and in hindsight turn out to be wrong directions. More challenges. More maturing. More making us stronger. Not always a whole lot of fun but seemingly a necessary part of making us better people, of making us all that we can be. I remind myself to be thankful for the lessons.
Fun is a critical component of life. Laughter is part of balance. When I walked around a corner and saw this pile of rocks, in my mind I saw my children scrambling all over it like they would have done when they were younger and we used to go camping. Climbing on top, they'd have become fierce warriors and pretty princesses and conquered the world. They'd have won the war. They always did. A pile of rocks, a few sticks for swords, and some imagination would have occupied them for hours. In their mind's eye, they couldn't lose.
What is winning? What is losing? The definitions are personal and they won't always look like the world's standard view. This posting isn't meant to be maudlin or depressed so don't take it that way. I just find it interesting how many times we're walking along a peaceful river, feeling safe, secure, and sure of ourselves and then suddenly...
... we're over the fall we didn't even know were there. In a blink, everything is different in a way we didn't want it to be different and there's nothing we can do about it but choose our thoughts and choose our focus and choose to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. The alternative is not so good.
For some personalities, not knowing what's around the next corner is exactly how they want to live their lives. For other personalities - like mine - all that not knowing can turn us inside out and the longer the not knowing goes on, the more we anticipate falls around the corner and pretty soon we're so focused on the potential (pit) falls and we forget to enjoy the peaceful river. This is not good.
There are rivers and there are falls. There is better and there is bad. And there's a lot in-between. I don't want to miss the in-between because my emotional pendulum is swinging between all good or all bad. Every day, I have the opportunity to choose happiness and gratefulness and a positive approach.
Driving home, we saw this advertisement for hay sales. It's installation art at the end of a lane in what I would call the middle of nowhere. No gallery. Few viewings. It's a sign that says and here lives humour, and laughter, and an enjoyment of life's little treasures and oh - we sell hay.
Humor makes all the difference. Laughter. Looking on the brighter side. Choosing to do our best no matter what. Seeing what is. Working with it. Following where it leads even when it's down a path and around a corner and may lead to a fall. Is there any other choice? That's life. What you make it. How you approach it. Lately, I've been feeling wound up just a little too tight and it's not good. I want to wake up happy. I want to be grateful for what I have. I want to enjoy the gift of creativity. I want to be open to possibilities. I want to laugh.
Contrasts make me laugh. On one hand, it seems there are lots of hours in the day in which to be creative and on the other as if I'm never getting to the new ideas I want to explore. I seem to sew for hours while having nothing to wear. It's funny in a not so funny way so I've come up with the practical plan. That's what my personality does. Makes plans so God can laugh which means we'll see what actually happens but for now, I plan to be grateful for the time I have, for my studio no matter how much smaller it seems, for the potential of my stash, for the technical skills I've developed, and for the excitement about and the desire to learn new things while focusing on putting together a basic wardrobe between now and the new year and then on exploring new techniques. It's a practical plan.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - laughter and nature's lessons
What an interesting post that I really enjoyed reading!
ReplyDeleteBeing out in nature somehow inspires these philosophical thoughts. Lovely photos, lovely thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post. It was perfect timing. Sometimes you need reminders that life is constantly changing. How you respond to the changes is the most important thing.
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