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pink stilettos and other shoes


I know I should be living in the very present reality of Today but dang!, 2008 has been one hell of a ride and I'm sure hoping 2009 is a bit less dramatic. I can't go into all of it here but thinking about the six (or more) life altering or at the very least, life shaking events in my life or the lives of family members this year has caused me to think about the fact that no one ever really knows what other people are going through, even if they really open up and fill you in on the details. I can't even come close to revealing all the different stuff that happens let alone the many ways that circumstances might be affecting me. Besides the fact that I can't broadcast everything that touches my life because many of those situations involve other people who I want to protect or at least not expose to public scrutiny, the real underlying fact is that I don’t even comprehend how it all factors in and fits together or what I’m actually learning from it all. I talk openly about the things I can and process much of it as transparently as I possibly can but honestly, there are really very few people in my life that I feel I can be completely open with and like I said, even then they are limited in what they can know or actually do to help. (I have to say though that even if they are limited in their ability to really fully bear my burdens, as I think about the comforting, stabilizing presence of friends in my life, I am truly thankful.)

All this brings to mind the old cliché that has to do with the same concept… “You never know until you have to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” And really we can’t. Even if someone does fill us in on their own current events and we try to identify and empathize, each one of us has had that unique set of experiences that factors in to all that is 'us' and we just can’t know how all of that is fitting together to affect someone’s thinking or emotions or reactions. Sometimes it may seem that someone is reacting to us when in reality they have a multitude of other things that have led up to their response in any given moment. I’m hoping that in the future I will have at least become more sensitive to other people because of being made more conscious of this.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this but these are my thoughts today as I ponder yet another change in our lives. I am determined to be at peace and will entrust it all to Him who judges justly and try once again to rest in His comforting presence. Life is good despite all it throws at us (and boy am I glad I don't have to walk a mile in pink stilettos! :)

Comments

Leau said…
You are exactly right! Good one, 2009 will bring new life to us all, right?
"Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it. Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves." ~ Buddha
smooches
December 1, 2008 at 3:47 PM
Paula Scott Molokai Girl Studio said…
It has been a wild ride. And, I too, am glad that I did not have to walk even a block in pink stilletos!
December 6, 2008 at 10:33 AM
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