Friday, July 31, 2009

AN EARLY MORNING WISDOM WALK

Am just standing out the gate of the house, not yet walking. I don’t know, things just sweep into my brain and get me into thinking mode just like that. I can’t put it aside, nope, because it won’t let me until I get it all sorted out clear through. For instance, I look down at my walking shoes and I see just how good it is to have one as perfect as this. It hugs my ankle firm and its thick soles lets me go over gravel and stones with ease. I’d like to think that a person should arm himself with that kind of attitude – firm and thick. Oh yes, firm in his values or goals with thick or solid principles which certainly will help him walk through life’s challenges with no or minimal difficulty.

I look up and see the road I will be walking on stretching out before me. At this starting point of my one-hour-walk, the road I see is quite smooth wide and paved. As I go farther down it, the road changes its terrain. Cracked and uneven in some parts, blotched with pebbles, stones, and rocks in another, and strewn with nature’s mess --- bird droppings, dogs’ shit, fallen leaves and fruits rotting on the ground. I must look like a funny sight skipping over the shit or zigzagging my way through, over, or around the mess.

Doesn’t that remind you so much of life – this life journey we each embark on? Sometimes we get it fun and pleasurable; at times it becomes so disjointed and utterly aggravating with odd situations; and then in some again it gives us the darn annoying and maddening circumstances which try our patience and test our resolve. We get it all, don’t we, in this uneven terrain we travel on. But when faced with such challenges, I fall back on the famous words of Michael Jordan ---


"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

There’s so much I can see in that walk, so much like life itself. But uncannily when I get to the end of my hike and am back home where I started, I get this feeling that nothing has ended but simply stands on temporary ‘freeze’ -- poised to resume again with the next morning walk. And that’s what happens on my next walk. The walk comes to life again with fresh observations, insights, perceptions, and learning. It’s never the same experience every time. Always something new unfolds itself before my eyes. It pays to pay attention.



7 comments:

  1. Ellen,

    Beautifully summed up ways of life. True comparison.

    Thanks for visiting me at o3.indiatimes space. I was looking for your visit here actually and it was such a pleasant suprise to see you there. There is another new post here.

    Take care

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  2. Your post was as usual thought-provoking. It is so true...you have bad roads, good roads - in life, you have good times and bad times...there are some roads which are crooked, some winding, some straight, some which run uphill and others which are downhill - just like there are so many different kinds of people you meet in life, and so many different choices that are available to you...I guess a morning walk was what made Robert Frost reflect upon his life and write the poem "The Road Not Taken"....

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  3. Hi Sapphire :-)

    Great to see you here! How are you? I hope this note sees you in good health and good cheer. I have gone to your blog just awhile ago and left message there. Thanks for your message. Yeah, I like that poem of Frost 'The Road Not Taken' and this part best....

    "I shall be telling this with a sigh
    Somewhere ages and ages hence:
    two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
    I took the one less traveled by,
    And that has made all the difference."

    Wonderful, indeed.
    Thanks, Sapphire, for reminding me of this lovely poem.

    Take care and God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Jack!

    Oh it was wonderful visiting you there and too in your blog here in blogspot... in which I left a long message. That was an interesting post you wrote.

    Take care. See you around.
    God bless you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Truely moving. I agree with you completely. I seem to have got seasoned to your posts because I figured out that you were talking about life before you revealed it.

    I have tried to write something like you (copy you basically), in that I have tried to draw an insight on life based on an experience from day-to-day life.

    Indrasish.

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  6. Hello Ellen,

    I'm happy to pick up ur blog..Let me sat, it has got truth in every scentense.. Loved it..

    And this post, what a beautiful way to look in ti life..:)..Simply superb;

    **It’s never the same experience every time. Always something new unfolds itself before my eyes.

    Very veryyy true... and that's we get hope every day..:)

    Thanks for sharing.. and keep expressing..

    Take care.

    PS: welcome to my blog and let me have ur thoughts.. and i believe that they add value to my thoughts:)

    And 'Think from ur heart' post...i simply loved it..:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Indrasish,

    I did the reply on your page/blog. Hope you get to see it today. Thanks for dropping by and for your lovely message. It's always a pleasure to see you. God bless.

    Ellen

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    Hi Pramoda,

    Welcome to my blog. I'm glad you're here. Thank you for your nice and kind words. :-)

    'Went to see your blog too just awhile ago. Left message for you.

    Have a wonderful and blessed week. Be seeing you, here or in your blog. God bless you and your family.

    Ellen

    ReplyDelete

:-) Here's where I warmly welcome you and where you leave your footprints behind with fond memories attached to it of wonderful chats and friendships. Thank you for your comments. Or send your comments to ellen622@gmail.com. Will be seeing you in your blog too. God bless you!