Reflections on Life

Did you ever have a period of time in your life when you knew that your universe was tilted somehow but had no idea why, how or what to do about it?

I guess its part of the Journey Human. Maybe the only way to exit a phase of your life is to rise above it and see it from a different perspective. In our bewilderment, we often miss the incredible sites and sounds from up there though.

Without a doubt, there is a reason for the various journeys we are each on. I believe there is usually one very important lesson that must be learned as we move through each stage of our lives. Once we understand and accept that one truth, then we are qualified to exit that stage and move onward.

I can honestly say that after so many years of wandering in this particular dessert…it’s been around 10 years now…I know the answer to the question. It’s not 42. I know some of you immediately raised your hands and thought, “Oh, oh! I know the answer! Pick me!” The answer is NOT 42! (if you haven’t seen the original “Hitchhikers Guide” then shame on you! Watch it! It’s British humor at its best.)

The answer is that we humans often focus too much on small details that are irrelevant and we miss the Big Picture. All of those small details you deal with each day…they zap your strength, your wisdom, your inner power. They steal your time.

You must stop fretting and worrying about those details. You must look past them and see what a wonderful world it is and how unique and amazing each of us is. You must treasure the precious moments of your life and not rush past them. If you don’t know what those moments are, then go back to Step One and start over.

When God created the earth and man, He meant for us to be happy, to flourish and enjoy our days here. Somehow the simple pleasures of simply existing…remember, we are extraordinary Beings created in the image of an Extraordinary God…have escaped us.

We spend our days here toiling and laboring, heads down, shoulders to the grindstone. But that was never God’s plan for us. He always meant for us to live in a beautiful garden where there was no darkness, trouble or evil.

I think what I’m saying here is stop worrying about every little detail of your life. Let all those troubled thoughts go. Find a comfortable place and sit back and watch the sun go down tonight. Sleep under the stars tomorrow night.

When we were children, we’d go to east Texas to my Grandma’s farm. It would be summer, and she’d throw an old mattress out in the front yard at nightfall, and we’d lay there, 3 little kids with sheets pulled up to our necks, listening to the wolves howl, watching the stars.

The sky was much grander in those days. It was huge and black and filled with millions of stars. The world that lay ahead of us was full of possibilities and we knew that we’d grow up to be president someday or maybe a famous actress.

We never dreamed our lives would be ordinary or that we’d spend so much time each day focused on trivial things that won’t matter one iota in a hundred years. The world we lived in was full of candy and ice cream and baseball games played out in the street with our friends.

The secret to a happy life, if there is one, is to find our way back to those moments of our lives and live there in the beauty and radiance of possibility and wonder.