Have you ever wondered why people live out their journeys differently?
Some people are wealthy while others are poor, with the majority of the maze's population being somewhere in the middle, I presume. Some are relatively healthy most of their lives while others battle sickness and disease during their journeys in the maze. Some experience true love while others search without finding. Some want children and can't have them while others have them and don't want them. Some give while others take. Some love their animals like family members while others abuse their animals. Some travel the world while others never leave the town or county they were born in. Some take chances while others are fearful of taking chances. For most of us, the comparisons aren't so drastic. Instead, I think we get to a point within the maze that we are simply coasting. We really don't have any dreams, desires, or goals....we're just co-existing with one another.
My brother's 30th high school reunion was a few days ago. Out of a graduating class of 524, 16 classmates have already exited the maze and 200 classmates are unaccounted for. I think it's fair to say that out of those 200 there are probably more that have completed their final journey, as well. My brother left the maze at the age of 17. I don't know the circumstances surrounding the remaining 15 classmates but I'm sure most probably made it into their 20s, others into their 30s, and some meandered through the maze while in their 40s.
I started thinking of all these classmates and wondered.....if we were given the opportunity to know when we're going to make that last turn in the maze with our personal finish line in view, would we live our lives differently? I, for one, think I would. It makes me think of the life I've been given. I have been given a life of health for 40 years, but what have I REALLY done with that life? If I crossed the finish line and exited the maze today, would I be able to say I have lived my life to the fullest? No...I would not be able to say that. How many hours have we wasted doing meaningless things? How much time have we invested in relationships that destroy instead of build? With each passing second of every minute of every hour we are one step closer to that finish line. Every day, thousands are exiting the maze. I wonder how many of those would say they lived their life to the fullest? What makes the majority of us who (probably) don't live life to the fullest, and never really become aware of our true purpose within the maze, different from the select few that do?
What takes place within the maze is our life. Most of us are given multiple opportunities to change the course of our maze, but many times we never take those opportunities.
Hopefully, the maze has lots of twists and turns left for me to travel before exiting; allowing me to make good on some of the years I foolishly let slip away.
Think about where you are in the maze. If you're where you are supposed to be, great! If not, as long as you're still in it then it's not too late to change course.
I'll see ya in the box!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Admission Ticket
The average price of a movie ticket in the 1930s was around 5 cents, perhaps a little more depending on location. In the 1940s, a ticket would set you back a quarter (give or take a few cents). The average price in 2011 is around $8.
Admission into the maze is free; but once you're in you will soon realize that one must pay to reside amongst the other inhabitants. The maze is funded by all different types of currencies being exchanged at any given second on any given day. While this is a necessary and essential part of the foundation of the structure of the maze, there are other methods of payment that exists within its twists and turns. Payment is often rendered in the form of blood, sweat, tears, respect, assistance, guidance, kindness, encouragement, dedication......
Seventy-seven years ago, today, Tully McCoy entered this maze. His parents, Jim and Virgie McCoy, with God's help, of course, gave him an admission ticket. He remembers paying 15 cents for a movie ticket as a young boy. He has paid far more than that to live within this maze for the past 77 years. He has experienced good times and bad times, happy times and sad times, defeats and victories. I want to thank him for his part in giving me my admission ticket, and for loving me through the twists and turns. And Mom...thank you, too! You are the other half of my admission ticket. I'm glad I've been given the opportunity to share the maze with the two of you for the past 40 years.
I'll see ya in the box!
Admission into the maze is free; but once you're in you will soon realize that one must pay to reside amongst the other inhabitants. The maze is funded by all different types of currencies being exchanged at any given second on any given day. While this is a necessary and essential part of the foundation of the structure of the maze, there are other methods of payment that exists within its twists and turns. Payment is often rendered in the form of blood, sweat, tears, respect, assistance, guidance, kindness, encouragement, dedication......
Seventy-seven years ago, today, Tully McCoy entered this maze. His parents, Jim and Virgie McCoy, with God's help, of course, gave him an admission ticket. He remembers paying 15 cents for a movie ticket as a young boy. He has paid far more than that to live within this maze for the past 77 years. He has experienced good times and bad times, happy times and sad times, defeats and victories. I want to thank him for his part in giving me my admission ticket, and for loving me through the twists and turns. And Mom...thank you, too! You are the other half of my admission ticket. I'm glad I've been given the opportunity to share the maze with the two of you for the past 40 years.
I'll see ya in the box!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Tears
Not only do people reside in the maze, but emotions also share space in the maze with us. We never know, as we're weaving around the twists and turns, which emotion we're going to pick up along the way and carry for a season. Happiness, sadness, joy, anger, confusion, peace, despair....they're all neighbors to us.
Tears are companions to many, if not all, of these emotions. One friend has a new grandbaby that was born yesterday, and I'm sure tears fell down the cheeks of some of those family members as they welcomed their newest addition into this world. Today, another friend had to say goodbye to her father as he completed his final, earthly journey and exited the maze. Tears, without doubt, are falling down the cheeks of that family, as well. Tears of joy for one, and tears of sadness for the other.
Wherever you find yourself at this moment, know that you're never alone and that a new journey awaits....just around the bend.
I'll see ya in the box!
Tears are companions to many, if not all, of these emotions. One friend has a new grandbaby that was born yesterday, and I'm sure tears fell down the cheeks of some of those family members as they welcomed their newest addition into this world. Today, another friend had to say goodbye to her father as he completed his final, earthly journey and exited the maze. Tears, without doubt, are falling down the cheeks of that family, as well. Tears of joy for one, and tears of sadness for the other.
Wherever you find yourself at this moment, know that you're never alone and that a new journey awaits....just around the bend.
I'll see ya in the box!
Monday, July 18, 2011
One Big Box
"Life is a journey, not a destination." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is a lot of truth to the mentioned quote. We are all on a journey...or are we?
I've toyed with the idea (for the past year or so) of writing a blog, but I've never really found that one subject that I felt I could write about for an extended amount of time. There have been little flickers of light go off in my head about this subject or that subject, but none seemed to ignite a fire. One week ago, a flicker started again, and this time I thought I knew what the subject was going to be about, but I was totally stumped on coming up with a name for the blog. The handful of names/phrases/titles that came to mind were all taken. After a couple of days of getting nowhere, I put it on the back burner, once again. Then, this morning without any thought of this blog, the title/name AND the idea of the blog content just came. It caught me a little off-guard. Can it really be that easy?? Think about it, you get nothing; don't think about it, you get something....hmmm. I quickly got online to see if the name was available, and to my surprise and delight, it was!
I'm sure we all, at some point in our lives, have worked on a maze puzzle; or perhaps even gone through a maze of sorts, like those glass-house mazes at the state fair, or a corn maze. It's a journey, in a sense, of meandering around this turn and that turn to find our way out. Unlike a maze, that has different avenues that you can take but only one gets you to the finish line, life's maze has many different avenues for each of us. We have mountains to climb, hills to slide down, roads that are bumpy, and occasionally a lazy river that allows us to rest, collect our thoughts, and take a deep breath. So, imagine if you will, that we are all in one big box (aka: maze) with hundreds, or even thousands, of winding turns ahead of us that we can (and will) take. We will pass each other along the way, and will even travel along side one another at times. Throughout our time on this earth, we will not only have one journey, as the mentioned quote suggests; but instead, I believe we will have many journeys. There you have it...one maze with multiple journeys.
This blog will be of my journeys, and I'm hoping that we will meet up with each other somewhere along the way, in the big box. Topics will range from parental thoughts or questions to makeup tips, relational issues to career decisions, weight struggles to nuggets of encouragment.
Today, I introduce to you....a Maze of Journeys. I'll see ya in the box.
There is a lot of truth to the mentioned quote. We are all on a journey...or are we?
I've toyed with the idea (for the past year or so) of writing a blog, but I've never really found that one subject that I felt I could write about for an extended amount of time. There have been little flickers of light go off in my head about this subject or that subject, but none seemed to ignite a fire. One week ago, a flicker started again, and this time I thought I knew what the subject was going to be about, but I was totally stumped on coming up with a name for the blog. The handful of names/phrases/titles that came to mind were all taken. After a couple of days of getting nowhere, I put it on the back burner, once again. Then, this morning without any thought of this blog, the title/name AND the idea of the blog content just came. It caught me a little off-guard. Can it really be that easy?? Think about it, you get nothing; don't think about it, you get something....hmmm. I quickly got online to see if the name was available, and to my surprise and delight, it was!
I'm sure we all, at some point in our lives, have worked on a maze puzzle; or perhaps even gone through a maze of sorts, like those glass-house mazes at the state fair, or a corn maze. It's a journey, in a sense, of meandering around this turn and that turn to find our way out. Unlike a maze, that has different avenues that you can take but only one gets you to the finish line, life's maze has many different avenues for each of us. We have mountains to climb, hills to slide down, roads that are bumpy, and occasionally a lazy river that allows us to rest, collect our thoughts, and take a deep breath. So, imagine if you will, that we are all in one big box (aka: maze) with hundreds, or even thousands, of winding turns ahead of us that we can (and will) take. We will pass each other along the way, and will even travel along side one another at times. Throughout our time on this earth, we will not only have one journey, as the mentioned quote suggests; but instead, I believe we will have many journeys. There you have it...one maze with multiple journeys.
This blog will be of my journeys, and I'm hoping that we will meet up with each other somewhere along the way, in the big box. Topics will range from parental thoughts or questions to makeup tips, relational issues to career decisions, weight struggles to nuggets of encouragment.
Today, I introduce to you....a Maze of Journeys. I'll see ya in the box.
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