Places on the Path

At certian places on the trail, I walk in near darkness, the morning sun hardly penetrating the thick green canopy overhead. 

Yet, when I look up the path, I can see, in the distance, a place I'll soon reach that is bathed in sunlight. 

 I know that, once there, I'll see butterflies fluttering above a lovely patch of blue and gold wildflowers and dragon flies hovering over sleepy pond waters. 

This knowledge brings a sense of peace, and I am hopeful as I walk in the direction of the light. 

Each of us must walk through dark areas of life where the light of happiness seems dim. 

Such times are as much a part of life as their opposite. 

Yet, without these darker experiences, we wouldn't appreciate the brighter, better times when they come to us....and yes, they will come to us. 

It helps to keep a positive, hopeful attitude as we walk and to trust that, up ahead, something bright and beautiful is waiting. 

Nature's Freedom

On the other side of my fence, a field of wildflowers sways and dances in the summer breeze. 
The image of freedom, these colorful beauties flurish only when given the right to grow and spread at will.  Many wildflowers, when planted within the confines of a garden, fail to thrive, and when cut for bouquets, they quickly droop and wither. 
Freedom seems to be at the core of their being.

On this side of the fence, garden flowers, carefully planted and cared for, know a different version of freedom. 
Although confined to a smaller space than their wildflower cousins, they are free to raise their blooms and leaves to the sun and dig their roots deep into the cool soil.
  
Desire for the freedom to grow and flurish is a quality shared by all that live.
 It was the yearning for that freedom that led to the first July 4th celebration and the honor of it that has led to the joyful celebrations, on this day, for over 225 years. 
Like the flowers, we grow in different soils and under varied contitions, but above all else, we cherish the right to be free under the sun. 

A Modern Day Plague

On this beautiful, last day of July morning, I awakened with a serious case of the dreadful "gotta-dos".  Gotta water the flowers...gotta feed the birds...gotta pay bills...gotta finish a painting, gotta make three phone calls....gotta...gotta...gotta! 
The gottas swept over me like a fever, burning at the places in my mind where the enjoyment of the present moment should be.
Thinking about it seems to add another guilty gotta to the list......gotta CHANGE!
Of course, I'm not the only one suffering  the symptoms of  what has become a 21st century epidemic.
Everywhere, we see the results of overloaded, overscheduled lives.
Many stress related illnesses, from heart disease, cancer and  digestive problems to overeating and drug use can be traced back to relentless, unmanaged cases of the "gotta dos".  
A sure symptom of this condition is the  the tragic inability to truly enjoy life as its victims feel compelled to dart from one gotta do act to another. 
Perhaps the only cure is to take a powerful  vaccine.
This vaccine, when taken properly,  refocuses the  gottas.
We are imunized by a dose of reverse thinking.
Rather than harming ourself with an early morning litney of gotta dos, we put in their place our peaceful will dos.
I will take three deep, slow breathes as I get out of bed.  Aw!  That feels so good!
I will spend ten minutes (yes, just ten minutes) as I begin the day, watching, in stillness, some form of beauty in nature.  ('Can't give yourself 10 minutes? Why not?  Don't you deserve ten minutes of your own time on earth? Look at your priorities.  Reclaim your time!)
I will turn off the negative news spilling out of my T.V., computer and newspaper.  I do not need to fill my thoughts with  the woes of the world.  (When was the last time your anxiety over events "out there" changed anything?  If you are like most of us, they never changed a thing.  They simply robbed you of  your peace of mind.)
I will  live in THIS MOMENT,  THIS HOUR, THIS DAY knowing that the world will not end if I don't
give in to the gotta dos.
Look around at the other living things in this world.  Do you see anything stressed out by gotta dos, other than human beings?  No, you don't, because other living things trust the rhythms of life in ways we have forgotten.
Of course, there are things we are required to do, but we owe it to ourselves to take the vaccine against the dreadful , stressful gotta dos.