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Wide Load

9 Jun

Have you ever seen a truck on the road carrying something very large with a sign on it saying, “Wide Load”? There are generally some red flags attached to alert other drivers, warning them that whatever is being transported is wider than general allowances, and to beware. Maybe you’ve seen houses being moved like this. Once I saw an airplane being transported this way. It’s not a common occurrence, but it comes up from time to time. The vehicles carrying these large objects must drive more slowly to ensure that nothing falls apart, and they reach their destination securely. It’s a wide load, and it requires careful attention.

In our lives, sometimes big things come up that require our careful attention. There may be a lot to address, and we may become overwhelmed. We have a “wide load” of concern and it’s beyond our normal circumstance. When that happens we may feel the burden is too heavy, it’s too much to face, or we’re not strong enough to get through it. We may feel surrounded by worry, and the stress of processing the problem, whatever it is, can seem extraordinarily daunting. It’s a hard place. We all go there from time to time, but experiences in hard places don’t always make the return to another one an easy trip. Sometimes it’s a real struggle.

No matter what comes to us, we can handle it if we take it step by step. There is no problem so vast that we can’t solve it, but in complicated situations, we probably aren’t going to solve it all at once. We have to face it one step at a time. Big issues simply cannot be resolved in one stroke. It may take a while to unravel things, and figure out how to go forward. But it’s not a contest to see how quickly we can solve the issue. It’s not a speed race. We can peel it back, one layer at a time, and work the problem inch by inch. We have to be patient, put out the red flags, and proceed slowly to keep everything together. If we take our time, process it one piece at a time, there is nothing we can’t manage.

Today if you have a big issue you’re dealing with, a complex problem you need to work out, take just one step toward the resolution. Figure out one piece of the puzzle and work that out. Then, take another step, and figure out the next piece. Before you know it, you will have your answers, and solve the problem. It may take time, but you’re carrying a wide load, and nobody can do that at full speed. You will succeed if you go slowly. You will reach the destination. It’s just a matter of time.

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Leaving a Mark

8 Jun

If you walk through the woods in an area where nobody has been in a long time, the trail may be undisturbed. Once you step on it, it will be changed because you were there. Your footsteps will leave a mark. The leaves will shift a bit, and the dirt will hold the imprint of your feet. There will be evidence of your presence. That evidence will remain undisturbed until someone new steps over your prints, but even then, they will not completely eradicate your impression. It will remain. Even though it may be altered, your presence will still be evident.

As we go through our lives, we are taking footsteps at each turn. And everything we do, everyone we see, every decision we make leaves an imprint – a mark that remains after we’re gone. It is impossible to live on earth and not make an impression. We cannot escape it. We are not invisible or weightless. We are here, tangible and interacting. Whatever we do changes things. Good or bad, we will leave a mark.

It’s important, therefore, that we take some time to think about the impact we are making. Are we a positive influence? Are we doing things that make the world better? Are we leaving the imprints of a life full of good choices? Or are we destroying the path with anger and strife? Are we churning up the dirt with disharmony and conflict? If we’re doing negative things, we may try to use others to cover our tracks, to hide where we’ve been, or what we’ve done. That may work for a while, but eventually, the marks we leave will return to us. After all, they were made by our footsteps – our choices – and there is no way to change that.

Our days are filled with decisions. Choices that will bring happiness or sorrow, goodness or grief, success or failure. Sometimes its easy to see what results our choices will bring, but other times it’s harder to discern, so it’s important to ponder before we choose. Easy or difficult, our choices are ours to make. We can choose to do whatever we want, for any reason we like. But we must remember in every choice, that we are leaving an imprint. We are leaving our mark, and we own the results of each choice.

Today, before you decide, remember that you will leave your mark behind. Choose carefully so the impressions you leave are exactly where you want them to be, and say exactly what you want them to say. Today, before you decide, take a moment to reflect. Your footprints are yours to make. But after you take that step, it will last forever. It will last forever. Your decisions are the evidence that you were here. You’re going to leave a mark. Make it a good one.

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Interesting and Important

6 Jun

A very wise man once told me, “In our lives, some things are interesting, and other things are important.” A simple statement, but over the course of time I have pondered it again, and again. There are certainly a lot of interesting things in life. Our world is diverse, and there are new things to learn every single day. We have the continual opportunity to embrace new ideas, learn about different places, experience fun and interesting events, and do something new. There is more to see, and do than we could ever complete in one lifetime.

And there are things in our lives that are important. The most important things tend to be intangible. We may want to work on being more patient, show more compassion, be stronger in our convictions, help others more, be kinder – whatever they are, they are very important goals that deserve our attention. Because they are intangible, the reminders to do them can be illusive. There is no alarm clock going off to remind us to be kind today. It must come from within us.

Of course, there are important tangible things as well – the mundane chores that must be done so we can get along effectively, the attention to our families, our relationships, and our jobs, the maintenance issues we all deal with, and a thousand other things. All of these tangible things are important, and must be tended to.

It seems logical then, that our important tasks should take priority over other interesting endeavors. But, sometimes the interesting things take precedence. We get pulled away, we get distracted, and what is most important to us gets pushed back. After a while we realize we haven’t accomplished what we’d hoped. We got our necessary tasks done, but we were so busy with all the interesting things around us, we didn’t work on our personal goals at all. We were just too busy. It happens, and if we don’t plan carefully, it will happen regularly.

If we get carried away with the interesting things in our lives, and forget the important things we really want to accomplish, we may get lost. Living comfortably is often about order. If we can address what is most important to us first, and then move on to what is interesting afterward, we’ll probably be more comfortable. We’ll be more confident knowing that we accomplished what we wanted to do most. When we take care of the things that are most important to us, we have more peace in our lives.

Today, if you have something important that you really want to do, make it a priority. There will probably be interruptions, and something truly interesting and fun may come up. But finish the important task first, work on your personal goals, and make time for what means most to you. Plan your days this way, and you’ll have more control over your direction, and more fun in your pleasures. It’s all about order. Plan to succeed. Do your first things first. Then relax, confident that no matter what else comes today, you’ve accomplished what was most important.

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Do you feel the pinch?

2 Jun

Have you ever worn shoes that were just a little too small? Maybe they felt okay at first but as you walked in them they began to pinch? Sometimes we can feel that sort of discomfort in our lives. It’s nothing serious, just a little pinch that something isn’t right. Like a blip on the radar that we can’t identify. We don’t feel exactly settled. Maybe we aren’t sleeping well, and we feel edgy. Something is off. Something is bugging us.

When this happens, it’s a good idea to give it some attention. Think about what we’re feeling. What is going on in our lives? Generally when we feel that little annoyance, there is something just under the surface that we’ve been ignoring. Perhaps it’s something someone said or did we blew off at the time, but has been bothering us ever since. Perhaps it’s a situation we’re involved in that for some reason just doesn’t fit. Perhaps it’s something we need to do that we keep putting off. Or maybe it’s something we did in the past that we need to revisit. Whatever it is, it helps to address it, so we can let it go.

Each day a lot of things happen to us. Sometimes we’re caught off guard by something, and even though we feel like we’ve moved on, sometimes it lingers. It’s there in the back of our minds niggling at us. Poking us to pay attention, making us feel unsettled. If it’s unpleasant, we may try to ignore it. But it remains, reminding us that it’s there. If we want to shake it off, first we have to fix it.

We deserve to get the most out of each day. We deserve to feel confident and settled. If there are things that take that from us, it’s best to change them. Once we determine what’s bothering us, and then do what it takes to let it go, our peace will return. It might be an easy fix, or it might be something that is more complicated. Once we’ve addressed the issue, done what we need to in order to let it go, we will be happier and feel like ourselves once more. We’ll feel relaxed again, and all those rough edges will smooth out.

Today if you’re feeling out of sorts, if you feel an annoying reminder of something that’s bothering you, address it. If it involves someone else, talk to them. If it involves a decision you need to make, decide. Whatever it is, fix it now, and find your center again. Small irritants can become bigger problems if we let them fester. Fix them while they’re small. Today is a great day to clean the closets. Once everything has been tidied up you can shut the door, and move on. Nothing will hold you back.

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What if?

28 May

Have you ever had a near miss where the hit would have been devastating? For instance, a car pulls right in front of yours, and you have to slam on the breaks, and just before you hit it you stop. Or you slip going down the stairs, and at the last minute are able to grab the rail – just in time. Or maybe you’re at a ball game, and a wild ball whizzes past your head just as you bend forward. Near misses. What if you hadn’t been able to stop, and you hit that car going so fast? What if you had fallen all the way down the stairs to the tile floor below? What if you hadn’t bent over just as that baseball came flying at your head? Near misses are frightening. Looking back at them on the other side can shake us. We wonder, what if?

Our lives are filled with “what ifs.” A thousand things could go wrong. If we think about all the possibilities of what could end in disaster, and how many things could misfire and lead to destruction, we may begin to wonder how on earth we’ve survived for so long. Everything can turn in a moment. In a fraction of a second, everything could change. It’s unsettling to think about, but thankfully, so far, we’re still here.

In our lives we can become complacent. We have our routines, we do our stuff, we take care of things, and generally we don’t  really think about the risks of what could go wrong. If we thought about every danger that could happen, it could keep us from moving forward. After all, we really can’t be successful at anything if we’re afraid of everything, so we just soldier on, and try not to think about the “what ifs.” We assume that everything will pretty much work out, and most of the time it pretty much does. But sometimes it doesn’t. And then everything changes. We can’t predict what is coming our way. We can only deal with it when it arrives. And sometimes the “what ifs” happen to us all.

There are no guarantees for any of us. Since we don’t know what lies ahead, perhaps we shouldn’t take a single moment for granted. Perhaps we should be more thankful for each day we have that goes well. Every single day that we get to do what we want, every single day that things go well, every single day that we survive – we should be grateful.

Today, think about all the blessings you have in your life. There are a lot of them. Don’t take any of them for granted. We have a lot to be grateful for. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring, but you have today. It’s a wonderful gift to have today. Don’t forget that. Make it count. And don’t forget to be thankful for it.

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