A journey is always made richer by the detail on the path. Sometimes when the going gets tough you almost want to retrace your steps to the safe place you started as if somehow this will allow you to take it an easier second time. It’s funny how we are fully aware that this life only has one run but we still live on commercial break for years at a time as though there’ll be a re-run someday where we will get to do the things we always wanted to do or dream the dreams we always wanted to dream.

Bringing it up doesn’t mean I’m immune or that I’ve even got a useful solution, but it’s something I thought I’d share on today. Let’s call it a reminder that it’s OK to get on with actually living your life and you have full permission to desire from your heart. (I feel like Sis Dolly in that last bit like I’m responding directly to a question about this..for those who are as old as I am you’ll remember which magazine had a sis Dolly section where people would send in their problems and she’d reply in the next issue).

Taking steps on wobbly feet

So my baby nephew, let’s call him JayJay, is learning to walk and he takes about two adorable steps before he sits down again. Its almost as if something in his little mind reminds him that he can’t walk yet and so needs the rest. This stage has always fascinated me firstly because it’s so cute to watch when they giggle with joy because we’re both excited about this new thing they’re able to do and secondly because you can start to see their character traits clearer.

As I was playing with JayJay the other day it hit me that life is very similar to his learning to walk in that we all start out on wobbly feet no matter how much of an expert we become when we finally learn to run. I guess the downside is that no promises are made that there will be an encouraging Auntie Sharon who celebrates with you when you take those first adorable steps or holds your hands and puts you in a walking posture to help you find your own. There is no journey without danger along the way but the point isn’t for you to focus on that the point is for you to put on the toughest shoes you’ve got and pack your bag with the best hope and prepare your lungs for hearty laughter and don’t forget your umbrella to cover your heart when the people you love rain on your parade.

Nothing will ever mean more than life

On good days the sun will shine extra bright and the birds will practically chirp in tune with your happiness. The pep in your step will bring with it more good things to enjoy, but on the bad days it will seem like the crows are cackling at your brokenness and the sun is conspiring to hide behind the clouds just to add gloom to it all. You’ll try to get your pep back but gravity’s been known to drag things to the ground and so it will take all your will power to keep trudging along.

That was just a fancier way of saying there will be ups and downs LOL, but more than these changing seasons what matters most is having the chance to go through it all and the opportunity to share it with those around us. I admire and respect people who write autobiographies because it’s not easy to open up a window into your life that other people can glimpse through with their own thoughts, feelings and perceptions.

No one ever really knows what goes on in your mind when you do the things you do or react the way you do but when you share your experiences you unwittingly humanise others around you and they can rest easy knowing that they are not alone.

I’m someone who has struggled to live and I know how it feels to wonder what the point of it is but my mind has changed. I find myself even on the worst days managing to get some weeping in but still looking forward to a better morning. It’s not easy to walk this journey so my prayer is that our minds may be changed as only God can change them and we are filled with a new hunger for adventure even though there is danger lurking in the background. My one greatest desire for you and I is to make it count and have lots of fun doing it..Amen