The sun sets on another day…
I watch sunset from the porch and I laughed at the dancing colors for raiding the cross the horizon like ballerinas in bright outfits. As I watched I could only smile at all the amazing variations of the sky.
I’ve been lost in thought occasionally. Actually in my life I’ve been lost in thought a lot. I try not to get lost there but sometimes there’s not a map showing where to go or how to exit once you start. Without fail I have managed to find my way out though.
When I was younger I tried the what if game a lot. As I did I found myself thinking about a great deal and enjoying a variety of different rabbit holes that seemed to have no end. The decisions I have made in my life have been unique. The decisions you have made in your life have been equally unique. To put it simply we are all quite unique.
There are key thoughts and elements that are of course at the top of my list, well at least they were. Most of them were based on my stupid decisions or uninformed decisions, but some explored the good paths that I took and how I could have make them better. Somewhere in it all I learned the most valuable lesson that I should pass on and that we really should take to heart:
You can only control you. All of the “ifs”, the “ands”, and the “buts” are meaningless without considering that the only element you have any control of is yourself. Any other control that I thought I had, or that I thought I had an effect on, is purely an illusion. A bitter illusion to be sure, but still an illusion. Somewhere in the midst of everything I learned that I was not in control.
That’s really hard for some people. Initially it was really hard for me. There were many people that I was sure I could help change, there is no way that I could have ever done that without them wanting to change. There are those people that I wanted to help, but initially I didn’t realize they had to help themselves. There are many that I thought I could guide, not knowing that the only person I can ever guide Is me. And so it went.
In the end a lot of things came to light at once. From love to hate I only controlled myself. For all the immense power that I could control the best that I could do would never be good enough without the cooperation of whatever or whoever I was focused on. I could only control me.
It is hard to hear. You can only do you. You can only help yourself forward. No one else can open your mind without you choosing to let them. You cannot open anyone else’s mind without them choosing to let you. This is one of the reasons I write here with no comment and no return except those who write to me via email. It is your choice. If you find something that I wrote and it makes you feel better about life, that is awesome. If you disagree with me, that’s awesome as well. It is 100% up to you and only you.
With that in mind, I hope you can make the decisions for yourself to enjoy your day every day.
So as the sun sets on another day, take a deep breath, dream a dream, feel the air on your face, see the world before you, touch the wind, and as you do make the decisions that you can. Live with those decisions. As far as we know there is no going back so we’re pretty much stuck with whatever we do. If it means anything, I think you’re awesome and I hope that you can open your mind and see the world as I see it, a playground of amazement to be enjoyed, a series of adventures to be chosen. I hope your life is good now and tomorrow, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and what if…