Thanks for stopping by; I know how busy you are these days, so I really appreciate your time.
If you haven’t done so already, take a look at the picture above. No need to analyze it; just enjoy it for a minute. Go ahead; soak in the scenery.
That photo was taken at the farm in the Fall of 2022; two years ago, almost to the day. It was the last Fall season I enjoyed with my beloved. I wanted to share it with you to express an observation that has been nagging me since then.
All of us are in a rush. A rush to go somewhere, to do something, to start something, to finish something, to change something. The one thing most of us are not doing enough of is just being. Being quiet, being relaxed, being introspective, being silly, being happy, being lazy, being joyful, being satisfied with ourselves. Just being. We’ve been busy on a never-ending quest to achieve things. To get things done, to plan for the future, to assess the situation, to protect our health, our family, our livelihood, even our country. Some of you may be on a mission to be right, to be first, to be stronger, to be more resilient. To be what is expected of you to be. Everything, that is, except just being. You’ve been on a road to somewhere, to anywhere for so long, that you’ve probably forgotten how to stop. You’ve forgotten that there’s more to life than just what lays ahead or behind. There’s so much that exists in the peripheries of life that you hardly ever get a chance to see or experience – even what’s inside of you is often a mystery.
Go look at that picture again and think about that, just for a minute.
Yes, Fall is finally here. Again. Yet that inexorable pace I mentioned still continues seemingly unabated. So this is what I wanted to say to you – to share with you – that has been on my mind:
Why don’t you try to emulate this Fall season by allowing yourself to shed those various existential leaves that have hung on your branches all year long. You know, the ones you grew specifically to hide the true nature of who and what you are. Take a moment to learn a bit more about yourself; to find that place inside of you where there still exists an opportunity to discover a life that is more meaningful, purposeful, and joyful. All you have to do is reclaim the one simple gift that was put there by you all those years ago before you started to run in that human race. The precious gift of being exactly who you really are inside. The person upon whom your parents placed the weight of their hopes on for a better world. The person that many people regard as a true and faithful neighbor and friend. The person who is seen by those special people in your life as the light of their world through that fantastical, ethereal, and transformative emotion called love. Of all the roads you may choose to take, it’s the one traversed by your true self that represents the person that all those special people in your life whom you love, cherish, and respect will always remember and honor, even long after you’re gone. That’s the race you need to be on; the race for a meaningful legacy; the real human race. In this humble writer’s opinion, it’s the only race really worth winning.
Take one last look at that photo before you go and remember something I’ve written in the past: In the end, the one with the most smiles, wins.
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