A lesson to be learned
I took this picture of my friend when I first moved to this little town. To get to this spot, we simply rode our bikes up a local hiking trail for about ten minutes. Not far from that is a major highway and everything else you might expect of civilization.
Since that day I’ve looked at this picture often, knowing that there is something deeper about it that I hadn’t yet seen. Now I feel I have a better grasp of what it means.
What you, the reader, can’t see is the day that led to this moment. It wasn’t a good one, and that’s sort of been the pattern for me lately. I got home, dreading another few hours of stewing in my own mind, and my friend pulled in and asked if I’d want to go on a short ride. Sure, why not. A little time outside might make things a bit better.
As we rode out of town I felt a lot of the weight of the day slip from my shoulders. I could breathe again as I got more immersed in the natural surroundings, but like I said, this is all not very far from the highway and the town itself.
What I see now is that, among all the fast-paced thoughts and negative feelings in my daily life, there is always beauty and freedom waiting somewhere. My tunnel vision makes that very hard to see most of the time, but this was proof that the beauty I seek and need is never far. It’s always there and it’s always ready to be received, so long as I take the time and energy to experience it.
This day it took the inquiry of a friend to find it, and for that I’m extremely thankful. The goal going forward is for me to create those opportunities on my own instead of resigning myself to those feelings of negativity simply because I am already there. Each day can be turned into something beautiful, no matter how late it is.
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