Faded

 

Sometimes the journey is wearing.   You just keep putting one foot in front of the other for no other reason than that is what you have been doing up to this point.... putting one foot in front of the other.  The senses are dulled from a series of disappointments that just keep rolling over your spirit.  

You got too few things done that had to be done today.  Someone you respected said something that shook your confidence in them.  Another person you know is sick and another's loved-one has died.  Something that is new is broken and something that was worn, but trustworthy, is missing.  A kind offer was rejected and a request for aid went unanswered.  Passed over once, twice and forgotten after promises were made to remember.  

The leaves on the trees look tired and the plants by the side of the path are battered, not nearly so lovely as you had hoped.  Yet you keep putting one foot in front of the other.  Until...

The path turns.  A flash of the deepest blue catches your eye. Suddenly, you don't feel quite so tired and you pick up the pace.  You turn again and there it is.  Something that takes your breath away.  Something that renews you.

And you see that what you did today was enough.  You understand a person you respected better than you did before and have a chance to grow with them.  You offer solace to the grieving and those who are ill.  You find that things that are broken or are lost might be fixed or found... or ... perhaps they weren't that important after all.  You find it in you to make more kind offers and are brave enough to ask for help again when you need it.  You figure out how to forgive perceived slights and work on how you can forgive yourself for your own faults.

And the leaves on the trees have character - because they have adorned these limbs through a hot, dry period.  The plants on the side of the trail display a resilience that you can respect, because they too are doing their equivalent to putting one foot in front of the other.  

And there is beauty in the persistence they exhibit.  And hope for the bright blue ocean just around the bend.