Take off the Blinders

We have eyes to look out of so that we can see where we are going and what is happening around us.  And yet, how often do we choose to spend our time looking inward instead?  There is a world out there and it is a busy one.  Filled with both happiness and sorrow, smooth sailing and storms, bounty and loss.  But until something from the outside world shakes us to our core, we go on without paying it much attention.  We are consumed by our own hearts and minds.  Lost in our own internal struggles.  Preferring to wallow in our misfortunes and fears rather than to participate in life.

How many times do I speak to myself?  "Count your Blessings" and "Accept the things you cannot change, have the Courage to change the things you can, and the Wisdom to know the difference."  And yet, do I really listen?

In the last week I have heard the world cry out when innocent lives were taken by a senseless act of war against a civilian airliner. I have heard that a friend lost his house and almost his family to a fire and a few days later, survived an automobile accident with his pregnant wife and child that resulted in his unborn baby being born early (thankfully, healthy).  All of these things made me stop for a moment and drew me away from my inner sanctum, forcing me to look beyond the blinders that keep me focused on myself.  And then I heard that a boy from my son's High School, lost his battle against brain cancer and his single-mother and sister are trying to raise money for his funeral.

There are moments in your life when you wake-up and realize what you have to be thankful for and you sit there and look around you and let out a single shaken breath.  You take in all that you have, the gift of tomorrow and the hope that there will be more days for you and your loved ones.  But then one day goes into the next and before you know it, you are trapped inside your head once again.  Forgetting the lesson that should have been learned long ago.  As fleeting as first love, as fleeting as the joy of a new born baby, the realization that we need to take the time to enjoy today passes through our fingers like sand.  And we go on looking at our empty hands and forgetting that what we do have can slip through them so quickly.  Just because there is unwanted change in our lives, just because we don't have everything that we want, just because we have struggles doesn't mean our hands are empty.

Look around you, take off the blinders, and enjoy the day!