I believe the concept that I have finally come to understand is that we never really lose anything. It is only a matter of our perspective. The relationship that ended didn't really end it has just changed. The love and appreciation will always be there just in a different manner. I didn't lose my innocence rather my wisdom has blossomed. And lastly, I didn't lose my way, but the journey is continuing at all times. The one idea that I have read about over the past couple of weeks that has helped me tremendously is that the people that fail the most, succeed the most. For instance, Abraham Lincoln failed at just about everything he tried to succeed at (he ran for office, but not president, until he was in his 50's and never won several times). That's right, until his 50's he had a stream of failures and now he is known as one of the greatest presidents in our American history.
It is hard to see the silver lining or the optimistic side of things (or even the bigger picture) immediately after a big downfall occurs. All we can do is wallow and I have come to appreciate this "hitting the rock bottom" period. I truly believe that we all need to go through rough times to be able to fully appreciate what we have, who we are, and grow more as human beings.
I went for a hike yesterday. All by myself. It was just me, the beautiful sun, and my camera. As soon as I entered the woods, I will admit, I got teary eyed. Having spent the past five years of my life in VT I am used to be around woods all the time. As I entered into the trails all of a sudden it felt like I could breath again. For the next hour and a half I finally did not have a thought in the world except for pure happiness for being able to smell pine needles and listen to birds and insects buzz. I could have stayed in there all day, but I had to get home to go to work later. I promised myself that I would make an effort to find some woods to walk in once a week so I can perhaps take a break from the constant chatter in my brain. Every one has their safe haven. What is it for you? Go find it and make it a priority to enjoy that place more often.
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Prosperity has a nasty side-effect. You start to pride yourself on what you own. Forgetting along the way that ownership has a tendency to own us. Past generations used to pride themselves on what they could do without. Perhaps it's a way of valuing one's self-possesion more than one's possesions. Not such a bad thing. It's the difference between having expensive ornamentals in your front yard and the experince of having a whole forest to explore. They're still all trees aren't they?
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