Decisons, Decisons!

Life is full of choices!  Should we turn left, or should we turn right?  Should we talk to this person or to that other one?  Is this a person that I can trust with my feelings or not?  We make hundreds of decisions each day and most are unconscious reactions. 

Some answers come like clockwork and we oftentimes rely on that gut-like prompter to lead and guide us.  Small signs and signals point us in the right direction and inaudibly whisper, “This is the way.”  A letter may fall out of a book or a card with a certain logo may appear and we receive the needed information. 

Choices do, however, have long-standing consequences.  The easiest and most popular way may not always be the best route in the long run. Convenient?  Maybe.  Productive?  Probably not. Those of us who are more seasoned have witnessed this time and time again simply by observing others.  We have learned that slow and steady does indeed win the race.   

What may be lucrative now may have some long-term costs that outlast the good times.  Those that chose the nearest way may find themselves shaking their heads and wondering, “What was I thinking? “ Or, better yet, they may ask, “Was I even thinking?”  They may have to admit that they were just participating in the moment. 

When we find ourselves at a crossroad of indecision, it might be best to push the Pause button.  Wait.  As many have advised over the years, “Sleep on it.”  See if it still makes sense the next day.  We may find that our viewpoints may have been altered to some extent.  We will know exactly what plan of action we should take and then proceed with confidence! 

Lynn M.                                                                  February 27, 2021 

Obstacle Courses!

It’s those little foxes, those small taunts or jibes and ridicules that we must jump over as we journey through our lives.  Like a track athlete, we see the hurdles ahead, leap over them and try our best to land on our feet.

I had a friend who advised me to step over the Lilliputians or the little people that Jonathan Swift mentioned in Gulliver’s Travels.  He was offering comfort after I shared an experience from a  hostile job environment.  We must overlook a lot of things if we want to keep it moving.

It often seems as if those obstacles are strategically placed to hopefully get us off course.  But as we keep our eyes on the prize we carry on. Nehemiah in the Bible kept a weapon in one hand and a chisel in the other as he built his wall. He refused to be distracted by the shouts from down below him.  We can do the same as we build our personal treasure troves and stay armed with our faith in ourselves to succeed. 

Charles Barkley recently reminded us on a talk show that the spectators don’t scream  when the mediocre guy shoots the ball.  They bring their noise-makers, raise their voices and sit right behind the basket to do all they can to break the concentration of the winning players.

We too can ignore the detractors as we run our races. We can pass the little foxes, the hurdles, the little people, and even the invisible barriers.  When we get to a resting place, we can take a breather or pant, if need be. We can even channel Maya Angelou and sigh, “Wouldn’t Take Nothing for the Journey, Now!

Lynn M.                                                     February 20, 2021

Glimmers!

We find in life that there are rarely long stretches of joy.  As a result, many participants of life see themselves as being unhappy.  But in reality just as joyous parties end, so must our zealous laughter.

When we see through a glass clearly, we recall glimmers of light from snippets of good moments.  Good moments plus good moments add up to give us good memories.  When we refer to some part of our journey with fondness, we have unconsciously minimized the dark periods. . 

There were certainly some low points for they are a given.  There were brief times of worry, self-doubt or some other angst, but we have somehow pushed them to the back of our minds. We, in turn have allowed the good moments to flourish forth. That could only mean that the good outweighed the bad and we have labeled that period in our lives as a good time. 

As we continue on with our daily journeys, perhaps we will stop searching for the illusive butterfly and continually gather all of our happy moments and put them in our  proverbial baskets.  If by chance, when we move on from that place, that era or that time in our personal histories, we can label that experience as great or not-so-great. It all depends on our tally marks of the lights and darks that we ticked out along the way. Yet, deep down inside we know that there was indeed some rain in the backdrop of our sunny memories.

Try Cecil B. DeMille’s advise to Gloria Swanson: “Take the cream. Leave the milk!”

Lynn M.                                                                 February 15, 2021

Abound!

Sweet love is floating all around,
It dances, sings without a sound.

As the birds, love flies overhead.
And lightens our paths. Enough said.

February shows peaks of spring!
Erases cold woes with a zing.

New hope emerges as we rise,
Shake off the winter blues. Huge sighs!

Lynn M.                                                         February 6, 2021