Sunday Newscape Magazine

“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.”- Alan Cohen

Blindness is sneaky. It moves in slowly...undetected...and increasingly dims our sight. Today we see less than we did yesterday and tomorrow will even be more indistinct.

I’m not really talking of literal blindness - although it can happen the same way. The blindness to which I’m referring is not physical, but no less catastrophic. This blindness dims our view of life and ourselves.

Today I found myself 30 thousand feet in the air. I wonder how that would sound to someone two hundred years ago! The sky was cloudy upon take-off, but we were soon gliding over a sea of marshmallow mountains glistening from the sun’s radiance. I always love this view. So majestic. A clear blue sky and a sun that perpetually shines.

How different from the reality of those just awakening below. Today, from down there, is a damp and dark gloom. It’s unlikely they’ll see the sun at all.

Got me to thinking of perspective. How differently things can look when you shift your position. I’ve recently shifted my position - literally and figuratively - in life and it has presented me with the recognition of how myopic I’d become. Some might say I had been focused. But, again, that’s a matter of perspective.

Two things have happened. I’ve begun to see possibilities I knew not existed and I’ve come to see the ruts I didn’t know I was in. Funny thing about ruts - they can feel so deceivingly comfortable. And when deep enough, you can’t see over their walls anymore. The rut becomes your whole world.

We also tend to resist people or events that illuminate our ruts. Ignorance can be comforting in a silently suffocating way. So, gaining new perspectives can be rare and filled with apprehension. Taking a good look at our lives isn’t always pleasant. But, if you think ignorance is bliss, you’re only half alive.

Life is so BIG! There are so many things we can do and so much we can experience. We are capable of extraordinary banquets. But, too often we settle for scraps. And sometimes we do it knowingly. Fearing failure or disappointment.

But, you know what? That’s the price of admission. Admission...to admit. To admit to our insecurities and let them go. To lift our eyes above our ruts and see a whole new possibility waiting for us to show up.

From the perspective of yesterday, this new path I’m walking looked unfamiliar and risky. But, I’m now down the road a few strides and it’s still unfamiliar, but the ground is solid. The newness of the scenery is invigorating and I’m exercising muscles that had grown stiff with neglect. Life has the freshness of an arriving Spring.

I’ve know this rejuvenation before - the last time I lifted my eyes and saw a new possibility. The trick is not letting the path become a rut and keeping my eyes up and off the ground.

Won’t you join me? It’s not painful. I promise. Well, unless you consider stretching painful. But, it is uncomfortable. Count on it. Then again, most really wonderful things in life create a little discomfort. It’s just the rut exercising its power. Nothing you can’t handle.

Let life affect you. Let it in. Let it disturb your comfort. It just wants to play; reaching down to see who’ll grab on. Isn’t that why we’re here?

(c) Karen Wright all rights reserved - http://wrightminded.com