Perspective

It's funny how you can be travelling along life's highway and suddenly be thrown onto an unrecognizable dirt road that tosses your whole sense of balance off kilter. It's been like that for me for the last couple of months. Can anything teach us the real lessons of life better than death and birth? Time seems to stand still in both cases. More questions with even fewer answers than ever before suddenly present themselves.

The trouble with this is that, of course, sometimes there just aren't any answers, so after frustration and inner turmoil have run their course, perspective ensues. Suddenly, a person doesn't require all the answers anymore. The moment to moment living becomes much more precious, and maybe that's all the answer anyone can really ask for.

As depressing as it sounds, the beauty of life and the loss of it are the only things creatures of this Earth all have in common. That alone should bond us in all our triumphs and fears.

Sometimes we just have to revert back to our formal selves, the selves who were happy with less, worried less. The fear attached to all the unanswered questions is what eventually brings us to our knees, but isn't it better to use that energy on reclaiming life? If we're only ever afraid of what's going to happen, then what's happening right now? It sounds cliche, but it's amazing when the reality of this sentiment hits you. Too many of us in today's busy society stop to "smell the roses." It's that one little act of smelling the roses that reminds us of all that we have--starting with the ability to enjoy something so perfect and simple and being truly present during this tiny but profound act.

I'm going to make a more concerted effort to smell the metaphorical roses. I'm reminded of the joy of holding a loved one's hand, or seeing a red-winged blackbird soaring through the trees.

Feeling connected to anything is what keeps us grounded, so let's try and remember that we are all connected, to each other and this Earth. It's what we all have in common, even if that fact is forgotten from time to time. Pain and joy are shared on a daily basis by everyone, and it's a good day when more joy is shared than pain.