An Excavation...

A blank page, an open slate, a place to lay my thoughts to rest. Yet where to start and what to say? Some thoughts are too deep and buried to make their way to paper. I struggle with concepts and ideas that plague my mind, that I wish to convey in eloquent meanderings for your appreciation. So here goes; excavating some “deep” thoughts…

Sometimes life challenges us. It shakes us up, and spins us round. Sometimes it masticates us, chews us up and spits us out.  Life has a way of shirking our expectations, and overhauling our plans. Often times in life you’ll find yourself in a position you never expected to encounter. Faced with circumstances you’d never have chosen, given opportunities to practice either, patience, acceptance and faith, or resentment, frustration, and sorrow.

Life often leads down dark and unsavory avenues. We find ourselves cornered sometimes in narrow, seemingly inescapable alleyways. Life is said to be full of choices, but there are moments in life when choices are made for you, and there simply aren’t a whole lot of options to consider. Times where all you can do is make the best of a bad situation. Find the silver linings in the everyday moments that make up your circumstances. Remember to be joyful even though you have every reason to be distraught. To find the balance between control (or lack there of) and trust; trust in the purpose of all things. Trust in the unknown… the unseen… the unfathomable.

 It is vital to take the time to appreciate the little things that bring a smile to our faces and make us glad to be alive, even if we feel overwhelmingly put upon or strained. Times that seem hopeless are meant to cultivate hope. In times of darkness we are being reminded to seek out the light. Lightheartedness, lightmindedness, lightbeingness. (Yes, I’m making up words again!) In every situation everyday there is something to be grateful for… thankful for… glad about. Something as trivial as the sun shining, the taste of a favorite food, a child’s contagious laughter, or a stranger’s friendly smile can bring a balance to our moments of fear and uncertainty. And perhaps, with much practice and time spent noticing and cultivating those moments, we can tip the scales. So that when we are faced with trials and tribulations we can draw upon that strength of character we have been nourishing, we can see the good through the bad and even come to value the challenges for the appreciation they foster.

When we are faced with uncertainty, fear, and doubt, when our situations challenge, defeat, and dismay us, when we feel considerable anxiety and worry, when we have no choice or don’t embrace the choices we do have.  That is the moment when we can be certain that we are being reminded, to alter our focus; to really immerse ourselves in the depths of life’s ocean. To allow its current to carry us to the places we would never find on our own. In order to grow and strengthen our spirits; creating within us the resilience and recognition necessary to truly embrace the full extent of this amazing, frightening, rewarding, beautiful, heart wrenching, indescribable adventure.

-Love.