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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

We're Alright




I was talking to a friend from my childhood the other day. She was on vacation in my state and wanted to come visit me. We chatted non-stop while our kids played. It was good catching up. We both grew up with simalar beliefs and lifestyles and both have come out of that. We talked about old times and crazy parents and legalistic beliefs and who we were then and who we are now. We could've talked for another 8 hours.

As she was leaving, she hugged me and said "It's good for me to see people from way-back-when, to see where they are now. We're alright, you know? After everything is said and done, we're all OK. We have good lives, people we love and who love us. We have our demons and struggles like everyone else, but in the end....we're all alright."

I thought for a while about what she said and I realized she was right. If I step back and look at the big picture, I see many people, broken, all in different stages of healing, all living our lives as best we can, all searching and growing and loving and crying and laughing. We are just like everyone else in the world, regardless of where we came from. And we are alright.

Sometimes I get caught up in seeing through a narrow lense; seeing only one small part of an issue in my life or someone else's. I get so intent on such little things that need fixing that they become huge and cloud everything else. Sometimes I need to step back and realize that I'm looking at such a small part of who I am and where I'm at. I need a bigger perspective. My friend gave me one that day.

We're alright. Not perfect, not "arrived", maybe not where we'd like to be, maybe some more broken than others. But we're on a journey, each of us with a goal and dream in mind. And we'll get there. And as long as we never stop moving forward, never stop dreaming, never give up, we'll be alright.

6 comments:

  1. Yes, and thank you for that! It is indeed important to dwell on the good in life and not just on the bad

    Though I would point out that being "alright" now does not, of course, justify the bad things that happen or mean they weren't bad. Not to nitpick - it's just that either extreme is lacking.

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  2. Oh yes, totally agree. Not justifying anything here. Just sharing a thought that stuck with me. :)

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  3. Love this.

    From experience, I can say YES!!!...and, if you keep treading down that road, you can also *thrive*.

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  4. Thanks, Darcy. AMEN!!! I can't wait to talk to you in person. :)

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  5. Spot on! It's all about perseverance and not sitting down in the mud to cry. :)

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  6. This is beautiful...love, love, love it.

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