"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own."
Benjamin Disraeli
I know people of great value who for one reason or another doubt their own worth. I speak gently of the jewels I see sparkling here and there amid the fresh wounds and old scars that mark their travels. I offer a point of view that comes from long sight. My eyes don't simply scan the surface and dismiss someone in crisis as deserving of their burden. I look beyond the debris and clutter of the storm, overlooking the image of victim that they portray and see so clearly what can be if they choose to remove the costume they wear. Hell, there comes a point where it's up to you to change your footwear, no matter who put your feet inside of those cement shoes in the first place. What matters is how to move forward and the blame game is useless fuel, all it creates is more dead bitter space.
I used to walk in the same posture of defeat, head down, feet dragging; I know what an effort it takes sometimes to just breathe in and out. When life kicks you in the teeth often enough you start to expect it and somewhere along the line you lose any true sense of self. I've been there and will never go back down that dead-end road. When I'm very lucky someone shuffling along raises their head and sees their true reflection in my eyes. When they can match what they see with what I do it's a victory for both of us, but it takes faith in the worth of the journey and effort of the deepest kind to guarantee their transformation.
I try to let people come to the point of effort on their own terms, pushing what I see down a clutched throat is too hard and yields much less benefit than encouraging them to swallow at the speed that is most comfortable. I attempt to stay mostly silent, except for what I write here, unless asked point-blank, but I stand firmly beside those who wish to have me nearby. I'm not a miracle worker, but I've watched many being performed. Lives changed in my arena have changed me and how I view all who travel within my range of vision.
Hope is my tool of choice, I use it often and produce it without trying. I place it here freely for use by all who come for their daily fix. Nobody close to me is without merit; each earned their special place in a different fashion, but all are valuable beyond what they realize. I'm acquainted with swans in tranformation mode, and mice who have learned to roar like lions, and stompers who struggle to glide more smoothly without losing any of their attitude, and true seekers of understanding who study constantly to find true enlightenment. I know and love many walking wounded in various stages of healing. My life is peopled with warriors of many kinds, from yummy mummy's to brightly tighted knight's and I see their beauty even when they don't. Stop demanding that other's continue to fail, when just a bit of gentleness can encourage them to fly. Help them up or get out of their way!!!
THINK ABOUT IT... LET IT RIDE...THEN YOU DECIDE!!!
© GLENDA ALEXANDER
