Originally, I was going to ask you to forgive me for waxing philosophical but it's a Friday so I feel no need to apologize. Really, I suppose it wouldn't matter which day of the week it was, I still wouldn't apologize.
As I was driving into town today everything was covered in a thick curtain of fog. Fog, for me, brings lots of different thoughts. When I was younger, I didn't like it very much. Mostly because of the scary movies I had seen where the bad guy comes out of the fog and all that kind of thing. I was fairly convinced that bad guys are just a part of the fog and will jump out at any moment and grab you and drag you into the fog and you will never be seen again. I'm over that now. Mostly. However, now, fog represents so much more to me.
With my fibro, I get brain fog. I literally feel like I'm walking around in fog inside my head some days. I have to write everything down or else I don't remember. It's frustrating. But that isn't what I wanted to "wax philosophical" about today. Down the road there were thick patches of fog that required me to slow down, thin patches where I could go faster, and places merely 3 feet from the edge of the road that were completely obscured. And then it came to me--the analogy of life that fog represents. Oh boy. This could get out of hand, but I'll do my best. I hope you can follow my thought process....
Obviously, you are..you in this analogy. As we drive down the road of "life" [I can see you rolling your eyes! Stop it!] the fog makes it hard to see what is ahead. Perhaps it is because Riker and I are at this point in our lives that it struck a chord with me. We can't see what is ahead. The end of the road is obscured by that fog and there is no telling who is on the other side or where the next curve is or if someone misjudged where the edge of the snow covered road is and you have to swerve to miss their garbage can that they stuck practically in the middle of the road [speaking from experience].
I have come to truly appreciate fog over the years but today I realized why. No matter that it hides the road, it also helps you see things you normally might miss. I had to slow down quite a bit and as I did, I noticed beautiful views that I normally miss as I go screeching down the road so I'm not late to work. I have had deep frustration stem from not seeing what lies ahead. The fog in my life has been mostly a negative experience for me--but only because I painted it that way. Rather than welcoming the opportunity to slow down and notice what I usually miss, I tend to push myself into trying to go as fast as I can even with obscured vision. It's dangerous; whether or not I really am driving into work or we are thinking about life.
There are also times as you drive that suddenly the fog parts and you can see the sun slowly rising and the clear road ahead. Those, in the past, have been my favorite times. Finally, I can speed up and fly into work or at least fly until I hit another wall of fog. Today, I have challenged myself and I'm extending that challenge to you as well. Enjoy the fog. Enjoy the times you have to slow down, the times you don't know where you are or where you are going, take the time to notice what you usually deem unimportant, and enjoy the beauty of the fog--the way it lifts and changes, when it's there and when it's not.
No comments:
Post a Comment