From the Editor's Computer
We plan. We fret. We ponder. We struggle. We dream. We stew. We obsess. We hope. We pray. We wish. We plot a course of action. We get advice. We research.
However, no matter what we do...life can change in an instant. The familiar becomes the unfamiliar. We are turned around and we’re no longer headed in the direction we were headed. The pathway that we were journeying down becomes steeper/rougher/narrower and more challenging.
The change could be nothing more than a change in price that puts a material object out of our price range. It could be a salary cut which affects how we live and pay our bills, or a loss of job which affects how we perceive our value in the market place. It could be the onset of an illness - minor, chronic or terminal - which can alter our whole life path and how we relate to others. Changing relationships can alter more than our life direction, they can alter how we perceive and express our own natures.
The change could come in a much more catastrophic form. Hurricanes, tornadoes, out-of-control rioting, fires, and major accidents all have a way of stopping us in our tracks and changing life directions.
While it is obvious when something huge or bad causes a change in life direction, there are also good changes which can result.
Winning the lottery (this one is a mixed blessing!), getting a raise, starting a new job with greater opportunities to express who you really are, volunteer opportunities which allow you to share and give back to your community and neighbourhood, new relationships - can all dramatically cause your life and shift it in a new direction, but not in a bad way.
Every experience is an opportunity for us to grow and become better people, as well as make the world around us better.
Life can change irrevocably in an instant, a blink of an eye, or in a ‘minute and a half’ as described by a popular country song. There will be no warning, no time to prepare. We need to be ready now with a flexible outlook and strength of character which will allow us to handle the setbacks and wonderful events with ease when our lives change at a moment’s notice.
Beth
Beth
Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-MZDLWBdufV2bBTLbFh_lFOW7sH7mI3N/view?usp=sharing
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