Did you ever see someone trying to cross a frozen lake? He looks down in nervous anticipation. He draws a deep breath, maybe two. You see him step very gingerly, listening for the warning crack of the ice. That guy on the ice, that's me.
It seems as if every day, I'm learing how to slide into the openings fate leaves for me. The task at hand now is attitude adjustment. The world quickly tires of a bleeding heart,and I don't want to be anyone's punching bag.
When I was younger, I accomplished so much in angry young man mode. One of the challlenges of age is channeling those feelings so they don't look like anger. An angry young man can fawn inspiration. An angry old man fawns contempt and pity.
Like most things, the answer's simple. Lighten up, Smile, ponder, dream, I'm not being positive enough. It's been a busy time. It's been too easy to procrastinate about getting on with life. Got to stop being afraid of mistakes. Well, wait a minute. I don't know that I'm really scared... just cautious about making a misstep.
So here i am, stepping onto the ice, holding my breath. So far, no cracks, only an occassional pop. Like last night, when the storm door blew open in the wind. When I heard it, I automatically looked up -- thought it was her coming home. Still, I've yet to really suffer the panic I figured would have set in by now. I should use that to my advantage, hoping against the odds that it won't be so easy to stumble.
Time to get into action. A good plan today is better than a great plan tomorrow.So while my head is clear, I'm working on a new direction, one which will lead somewhere that's still a mystery.
George Harrison said it best:
Oh Lord we've got to fight
With the thoughts in our head and the dark and the light
No use to stop and stare
If you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there
No comments:
Post a Comment