Perspective: Labyrinth or Maze? 25Aug11

I thank my friend Barbara McG for reminding me about it being our choice to see the various aspects of our lives as a maze or as a labyrinth.  Mazes, as you may recall, have dead ends, wrong turns and sometimes contain deadly monsters (vis a vis Theseus and the Minotaur from Greek mythology, or PacMan for those of a slightly more electronic age).   Labyrinths, on the other hand, are all twisty and contorted, doubling back and seemingly going 'round and round', but you cannot actually get lost in them.  You do ultimately reach your goal in a labyrinth.

The trick is in perspective and how we each see our paths.  If we see the apparently unfortunate or difficult events of our lives as dead ends and roadblocks, then that's how we experience what happens.  If we see the same events as true opportunities for learning and growth, that's what we get.  There are some days when the labyrinth is pretty darn twisted up, but to the greatest extent possible, I choose to see the events as workable issues rather than something that stops me flatfooted.

There's a story of a couple young boys who were faced with cleaning out a stable.  One grumbled about the work, how nasty and generally unpleasant it was.  The other, facing that much horse excrement, started digging excitedly.  When queried, he said "There's gotta be a pony in here somewhere." 

Irene barreling through the eastern Caribbean reminds me of the big hurricane that battered Houston a couple years ago and took out a lot of property on Galveston Island.  I lived in Katy at the time, roughly 100 miles inland from the coast.  The coastal areas had been appropriately evacuated because of concern about storm surge and a great deal of damage was actually sustained.  For one memorable night in my quiet little world, the storm rolled through, the rains pounded, and the trees touched their toes over and over and over again, lashing vigorously from side to side.  Power went out early that evening and we all waited by lantern and candlelight.  Once daylight came again, the neighbors all checked on each other.  Lots of minor damage in our world, but nothing earth shattering.  One neighbor had a generator and offered me one of his outlets to run my refrigerator (if I had a long grounded extension cord), which I accepted.  Another was in need of refrigeration for some medication, so they stored it in my fridge.  When the power came back on after four days, it felt somewhat miraculous to have air conditioning again, ceiling fans and electric lights.  Most of us were off work for four or five days, and spent the time cleaning up the debris in our yards, and visiting.  We got to know our neighbors a little better that week, which was a lovely plus.

Best blessings, safety and peace for all those in the path of Irene.  And look for the ponies!