Anne in Real Life©!
When we moved into our new house, we gathered our family together and expressed our thankfulness for this huge milestone in our lives. It represented many years of careful planning and applying ourselves to the plan.
I remember when we were in the beginning stages of our marriage when our kids were just little wee ones. We spent so many hours talking about how we would create this place of heaven on earth we’d one day call home. Until then, we squeezed ourselves into many too-small homes to keep it real, all the while striving to stay within our budget!
Now our kids are of the age when they are making plans for their own futures, and others we know are either enjoying the fruits of their labor or bemoaning the lack of a plan. Some, whose lives have unraveled for no apparent reason even with the best laid plans, now find themselves starting over. Who hasn’t experienced failed plans? I think I’ve experience, perhaps, more plans that failed than those that did not.
In my mind’s eye, our lives are part of a grand tapestry that is woven through the people and the experiences that make up the canvas of our lives. The good times represent the bright threads. The dark times—well, they provide the necessary contrast and without them life would be out of sync and out of balance, for sure.
We’re sometimes asked by a friend or a loved one who’s experiencing hard times why things like this happen. Too often, I’m afraid, we are quick to say, “Well, they happen for a reason,” and it’s true. One day we might understand why the hard things of our delicately woven life have happened as they did when we can see the tapestry from the upside.
Until then, we are earth bound. Able only to see the underside of life and its tapestry (which at times seems more of a travesty, if we’re honest!). Let it comfort us to know that we are weaving a thing of beauty, and that the purpose of these gut wrenching things we go through at times are providing the contrast for a greater purpose than we know.
For those who are just starting out with their “life” project, their tapestry, my wish for you is that you may divest yourselves fully in weaving the bright threads—the golden ones. That you will give yourselves fully to the things that will bring your hearts much joy when we’re all able to see the other side!
Remember, you can write me a letter about anything, at any time, and from anywhere! Just send your queries to clatsopcurrentnews@gmail.com and include “Real Life” as your subject line.
That’s all for now dear ones. This is Anne… in Real Life©
