So, where do we go from here? I feel as if I am on a pier looking at the
different schooners coming and going into the harbor. Each carrying a person that is destined to go
this way or that. Some to never been
seen again and others to causally meet all over again when Destiny should
allow.
I have my rain gear in my knapsack. No Map other than the
one that speaks to my heart. My mind is full of visions and dreams. Along with
Robert Kennedy, I look into the new horizon and see what is and ask “why” and
see what isn’t and ask “why not”
Why not me? I wonder
to myself. I have met people who have
encouraged me to step off the pier and onto a schooner to go explore and
reinvent.
Why, do I not believe what others have seen and told
me? It is as if they have gone to
foreign land within me and have come back to tell me all that they have seen
and a lot of it has been good.
I look to my means and say that there is no way.
I wonder how many of us give up the richness of who we are
because we see the poverty of where we reside.
I wonder how many see a box of crayons and only take out a few because
we are fearful to empty out the box. We are… afraid
“Afraid of what?” my Companion of Possibilities asks…
Are you afraid to fail?
Yet, you fail at the mere rejection of practicing who you are.
Are you afraid to be seen?
Yet you are seen and have been seen every day.
Are you afraid of succeeding? Yet you succeed at not taking
the next step every time you say “no”.
I am not sure what I think about the saying “That life is
like an oyster”. That metaphor is so confining.
Oh, I get it. Yes, a bit of Life’s
grain of sand somehow gets into this nasty looking shell; which by the way is
how we have allowed our perspective and heart to appear in life some
times. Over time we allow the
environment to toss us and constantly wash over us in such a way that we develop
a harden exterior; yet all the while inside we strive to be pliable, strong,
and resilient. Yet in the midst of all this external violence that develops a
crusty old shell there drops a grain of sand. The shell holds that grain of
sand and somehow miraculously it turns into a pearl.
What if….
What if that clam did not open itself up to its elements?
Well, simply stated, it would no longer live because it would not be able to
take in what sustains it’s life… also, it would not be open to creating a pearl,
a beautiful development of being.
We, like the clam, allow the externalities of life to beat
against us. We feel the tides of time
wash over us and yet we are afraid to open ourselves up to that same movement.
If we are no longer are open to nourishment, we will die inside ourselves. Yes
to be open to life and possibilities makes us vulnerable. However, in our
vulnerability we become open to making something beautiful and to offer that
beauty as a gift to others.
So, where do we go from here?
We know in our mind’s eye what is behind us so there is no
need to turn around to see it. The past
is yet a reference book to help us to understand and possibly write what is
before us.
The voices of the past either encouraged or discouraged us.
The new voices of encouragement are from those that have
seen our potential and are here to remind that we have a greater story that is yet
to be written. Also, there will be voices
that may discourage us so let them be considered as reminders of lessons that
need to be learned.
We also know that there will be moments of silence. Silence
has its own voice. Be open to the solitude of it. The sound of time’s movement
will be all that we hear just like in the silence of the ocean’s bed. We all need the sounds of silence so that our
bodies can take a moment to rest. A segment of time that allows our body, mind,
and spirit to catch up with each other.
As I step on to the schooner of choice this morning, there
is the rocking of the vessel… maybe a creaking of soul’s bones… the flexibility
of water allows the boat to move as I step into it. This movement reminds me that life will have
its ups and downs; however, it will carry me farther than if I stood on the
pier wondering…
“what if”
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