I SEE A TREND...

I'm seeing a trend appearing in my life lately. This is a bracelet I received as a gift from a really wonderful friend.

And this is a brochure I received in the mail for classes being offered at the Adult School in my area. Do things like this ever happen to you? Do you see trends with words or phrases appearing over and over around you? I'm sure these are not accidents as I believe there are no accidents in life and that everything happens for a reason.

I love that word "endless"...no end...infinity. It really gives you hope doesn't it? Imagine (that's another great word. You can add "ation" to it and it becomes a totally different word but it also has no end. Whatever you can think of, can happen. Put the two words together and they are a powerhouse of ideas that can happen just by believing in yourself and being willing to take a chance and move in a different direction, a different way, a different "possibility". These two words hold such great power.

"It's a possibility" should be the mantra for our world I think. Anything you believe, can happen.

I heard Martin Short talk the other night regarding the shootings that killed so many innocent young children and gun control (which is a really touchy subject for so many people right now because it frightens them and  threatens to take away their power). He said that years ago we would be flying in a airplane and everyone would be smoking or sitting in a building or a crowded space and the same thing would be happening. Then, people could not imagine not having smoking being a part of our lives in such a big way. Cigarettes were advertised in magazines, on television commercials...they were part of the fabric of our lives. But, it took one small step and people  being willing to have an open conversation (and mind) to be to change. No...we weren't trying to take their rights away to be able to smoke...we just wanted there to be a few changes in the way that cigarettes could be smoked. More safety for everyone. This gun-control issue might be the exact same thing.

Let's not take guns away from people, let's just moderate when and how they are used. Let's take baby steps now to get to a place in the future that is safer for all. It's just takes an idea (THE POSSIBILITY) and an open mind or two to IMAGINE what a life without (or moderated) could be. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS in so many aspects of our lives.

I know that I am trying to learn to think in a different way...to see the other person's perspective more often. I can see so many possibilities and I am so happy that each time I wear my new bracelet that I am reminded of that. I can look down at my arm and see the words. I can reach over with my other hand and feel the words engraved in the metal. I'm sure that I won't get there in one day nor will I exhaust every "possibility" that I could even imagine (there are just two many different ideas out there) but...I can pause to reflect and think about my options. I can move in a different direction. I can stay the same. I can modify or change, adjust, release.

This phrase could not be a better choice for me. I know that it took lots of thought and foresight for my friend to select just the perfect words for me. And she was right in doing so. She, too, has been given a gift in doing so. Whether she knows it or not, she has been one of the truly wonderful gifts that I have been given in my life. She helps me see "what is". She helps me discern "what might be". She helps me realize that I'm not crazy or weird. She helps me understand myself more completely. And best of all: she allows me to talk and ramble on about these things. Does she know what an incredible gift that in itself is? The ability to listen and not judge but softly say something that takes you in a different direction is truly a gift.

Things happen for a reason. Pay attention to them and learn the lesson. This is what I am finding in my life right now. And as another friend recently wrote to me: the obstacle is the path!