Dear Reader:

At the age I am now…I don’t have the same intensity towards obtaining goals that I did when younger. Thank goodness! I have finally come to realize that changes in life usually happen slowly, like the unfolding of a leaf. And when a change does hit suddenly….like moon flower blooms bursting open all at once…the surprise morphs into a better situation than previously experienced in the soft luxury of hindsight.

Blogger/author Kate Wolf-Jenson has experienced the same feeling. She observes: “The method that is evolving in my life-of holding the vision and creeping up on it gently, with tiny soft, foot falls-is working. It’s an alternative to the hard charging, accomplishment-driven way forward of my past. “

Haven’t we all seen people change into someone we hardly recognize? I remember at a funeral (long time ago….I was a teenager) for a cousin (mother’s age) the wife coming over to thank mother for coming and bringing me. I didn’t remember much about the deceased (I called him Mr.Bo) except he was always jolly and gave me a stick of gum when the adults weren’t looking. Then he would wink at me like it was our great secret.

Later, in life, however, he began having heart problems which only intensified over time….climaxing with an oxygen tent and continual bed rest. Mr. Bo grew quiet, then silent, and hardened against this difficult life situation placed on him. His widow told mother that “he had hardened into someone she scarcely recognized. It broke her heart.”

We see this in the faces of people walking on any street or in any gathering. They gave up their dreams and in doing so….gave up on life…instead of trying to find the positive in life’s difficult situations. We do have to be open to life’s unexpected detours, no matter how challenging. Or like the saying goes:

What we forget when we don’t adapt to what is thrown at us by life is that little eyes and ears are all around us watching, watching. They are learning how to handle adversaries through us. If they see us change, become hardened to the world, what do we think will happen to most of them when life’s disappointments come their way?

The flip-flop  of the term hardened is softened. We also know people who bloom brighter with each challenge that arises in their lives. They seem to sense intuitively that the problems facing them are opportunities to show other their real character…the right “stuff” that they are made of as a trusting child of God.

So until tomorrow, remember Kermit the Frog’s life mantra: “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.” (Always stay green and open to all that life has to offer…always curious about the next bend in the road…no matter our age.)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Look at my two “Christmas” poinsettias….I hid them back in the brush where they get lots of shade and already some of the leaves are starting to turn red. They love this hot weather and are blooming in less than perfect circumstances. I can hardly wait to see them at Christmas this year…to see how tall they have grown!