Maybe You Need a Map

Say you are browsing the Welcome Center.
Oh, maps!
These neatly folded squares indicate all sorts of things: Map of Ohio, Map of Historic Kentucky, Map of Haunted Greater Cincinnati, Map of Restuarants, Map of Local Points of Interest. You take the first and the third, just in case.

You look even closer and see more maps. Map to _________.  What would your dream map say?

Mine would say Map to Successful Relationship with B.C. (....and would probably include a bottle of asprin because this incredible guy frustrates me to the point of headaches)

If given the map of your dreams, would you take it?  There are a lot of times maps really come in handy. When there are detours, for example. Or when electronic directions take you no where (like swimming across the ocean to get from China to Taiwan, or to a dead end street while insisting you go forward).

I can see my hand reaching forward....and taking only the bottle of asprin. Because anything worth doing takes time. And when all else fails, follow directions.

When all else fails, then and only then, maybe you need a map.

To Remind You It Matters

When I was in the middle of my first giving round (see link on left) I got discouraged, because no matter how much I gave, none of it seemed to matter. In response to my frustration, a friend told me this story, which I later found out is adapted from Loren Eiseley.

A man was walking along the ocean, and observed another person on the beach as well.  As he watched, every couple of feet the man repeatedly bent down, and threw something into the ocean. 

Puzzled, the man asked, "What are you doing?" 

He simply replied, "Throwing the star fish back into the ocean." And picked yet another one up, and tossed it into the waves.

"Why?" asked the man, still puzzled.

"Because the tide is low, and they will dry out and die otherwise."

The man watched him throw a few more starfish and became exasperated. "This beach goes on for miles! And there are hundreds of star fish per mile! You can't possibly save enough to make a difference!"

In response, he picked up another star fish and tossed it into the ocean.  "It made a difference to that one."

(photography-match.com)

It's All Going Down the Drain.

Sometimes you can just feel it, all slipping down the drain. Sometimes that is your sign. Sometimes it is the aftermath. In an attempt to be upbeat, you can always say to yourself, "Well, everything must be emptied in order to be filled again."

Perhaps.

I tend to believe these kind of signs are more tuned into self-awareness. Examining what is being lost.  Maybe it is something you have been losing for twenty years.  Maybe it is something you have no control over, and yet feel it is all due to you.

Maybe it is the realization that no matter how good you are, how much you overcompensate, how hard you try, when you don't fit the bill, you simply don't fit. You can perservere, you can attempt to shape shift again, or you can evolve.  Regardless, sometimes you just have to learn to live when it's all going down the drain.