I was having
somewhat of a sleepless night and about mid-night I had to get out of bed and
move to my recliner in the front room. I
was sitting there for several minutes and then it dawned on me that in a couple
of hours it would be the end of winter.
Spring would finally be making an appearance. For me here in the Mountain states that was
to occur that morning, March 20, 2017 at 4:29 AM. Since I couldn’t really sleep
anyway, I thought I’d just stay awake and watch “the change” take place.
I was a little
drowsy but I fought the inclinations to fall asleep and I continued with great
anticipation awaiting the FIRST signs of spring! I’m not sure HOW I was able to do it,
but I did! So I got myself positioned in
front of our living room window and watched the wall cock tick down the
minutes. Then, as if I had been waiting
for a great marching band to come storming down the street, my pulse began to
race and the minute hand “clicked” into position! It was 4:29 AM and spring was here! I came out of my seat and stood starring out
the window. I heard the minute hand
“click” once more. It was 4:30 AM! I continued to look out the window. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting to
see, but I thought there would be SOMETHING!
Then the
minute hand “clicked” again. It was 4:31
AM! Everything looked the same as it had
a few minutes earlier. There was no
great shift in the cosmos or, at least, a slight tremor in the earth. Nothing!
The moment came and the moment passed!
Here we were in spring and for some reason I thought I had been cheated
out of one of the greatest spectacles to occur in months. But I guess the
let-down had actually come because of the anticipation I had created in my own
mind and heart so that the actuality didn’t exactly measure up to what I was
looking for. This is something we do in
other areas of our lives as well. Just
consider the following two:
Marriage: People sometimes spend months (in some cases
over a year) planning their perfect wedding day. All the things that have to be prepared: the location, the guest list, the cake, the
reception, and don’t forget the wedding party!
With all these things taking place and nerves that intensify, the final
weeks and days before the big event, its understandable the tension and anxiety
that goes through all the people involved.
Then the big day comes, and after about a 30-60 minute program, you’re
married! Regardless of all the
anticipation you had going into the wedding, very soon the reality of
day-to-day living begins to set in.
Often one or both parties in this arrangement begin to feel like they
have been cheated! Actually BEING married doesn’t “live up
to” their anticipation!
The second
area of discussion is HAVING A BABY! Again here is a period of months that the
exciting event covers with various hopes:
Is it going to be a boy or a girl?
Is it going to be healthy? And there
are MANY other “what ifs” to
consider. There’s going to be a period
of getting the room (or at least a space) ready for the baby when it leaves the
hospital. There will be ALL those doctor visits and all the
exams and those cute little pictures they give you where you TRY to figure out what you’re
looking at! Then the delivery passes and
the Mom and baby come home “to real life.”
Sadly some Moms have found that the reality of caring for a baby was not
what they anticipated when they were “expecting” the baby. Often terrible things are done because of
their feelings.
I’d like to
point out that I’m not against marriage. I’ve been very happily married to a
wonderful and beautiful lady for over 49 years.
And I’m not against families having babies. We have three incredible children who have
grown into wonderful family members themselves.
What I’m trying to express is that at times we take situations as I have
mentioned (and there are many others) and build up in our minds what WE THINK is going to be the condition,
circumstances or events and we anticipate
HOW things are going to turn out. Then
when they are different from our expectations we, at times, are unable or
unwilling to deal with them.
You just have
to remember, that in life, not everyone is dealt a perfect hand. In fact, NO ONE is! There are NO reset buttons in
life! You have to make the best you can
out of what you have. Is it always
fair? NO! Is it always
just? NO! But we change the
things we can, where possible, and we live with the rest the best we can. The biggest problem we have --- we’re only
human!
QUOTE TO CONSIDER
THOUGHTFUL GEM
"Marriage ---
the union of two wonderful forgivers."
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