The Light is Still Traveling

I came across a short video on Instagram the other day and is included in my reshares, but I thought it had a great point that could be combined with another thing that I have referenced off and on over the years of my blog and is good to remember and a good reminder, even for myself.

The video shows the stars, and it says that we shouldn't see black in space, if we saw all the stars that were out there, because if you look in any direction you would run into a star, eventually, which would be light.  That light should be traveling to us and shouldn't dim, so why is it that we see darkness?

The answer is that the light from all of those stars has not GOT to us, yet.  It is traveling at an incredible speed, but it has a LONG distance to pass in order to get to us.  I thought about that, and I thought how true that is for our lives and life events, too.  It is sorta like a song in my playlist last month about when God says not yet.  Not yet does not mean no.  It means not yet... there could be stages of growth that we need to do, or it could simply mean that we are not in the place or ability to have it at this time.  The light of our future happiness has just not got to us yet.

The thing that I have used in the past to talk about this was a mini series that was on many years ago called The Triangle, and it was about the Bermuda Triangle and weird things that were happening there.  In the mini series, the events got closer together as time progressed, because the event that was causing them was projecting out in TIME as well as distance, so the event that was the source just had not happened yet.

Just like the stars in the sky, there are many points of happy light that will happen in our lives, and we cannot see them all at once.  And, I don't think we WANT to, really... why spend all of your life unhappy and then have all your happiness at once.  Better to be happy all along the way with one thing or another.

So, when it feels like it is taking a long time to get to one thing or that something is lacking or you are focusing on a dark spot in your life sky, why not be patient for that light to come and focus on what you CAN see and enjoy in the days of your journey.  While there is dark in the sky, there is light, as well.  And, that light is very beautiful in contrast to the dark and makes for a very peaceful and relaxing wait, if you just take the time to observe and enjoy the days along the way.

Future Perspective

There's a lot of things that I love about my mother, but one thing that I will always remember is that when she begins a new book, she would often glance at the final chapter before beginning the book.  It makes sense.  You wanna know if the story is going to go where you want it to go, and knowing what happens helps you to see the things happening in the book from the perspective of the end.  That is the theme of this post and is a new way of seeing things for me, future perspective.

Indeed, this concept will stand as a counter weight to my often posted theme of adventure.  Both are important in their own way.  You should face life without knowing all that will happen.  There is some point to not knowing, so it can be interesting and exciting as you experience life.  However, I have noticed something about how I have viewed life for most of my life.  I looked at it as if I was looking at it from the past.  How would my past self look at these days in light of the dreams I had or how would this person or that person view and judge my life.  However, what is the point of either of those things.  If you have grown from your past self, why should that self have any bearing on who you are now.  And, if people have chosen to exit your life, they kinda disqualified themselves to be an authority on who you you are having given up on you before you grew and improved.

I do not think it is a wise thing to see things from the present perspective, either.  Life is happening all around you in a lot of ways.  It is mixed and sloppy and fluid.  Theologically, there was a distinction between the spirit and the soul in that the spirit was life and action and change, but the soul is what maintained character and depth.  I say that only to say that any given momemt is just that.. a moment.  We should never judge anything by the page upon which we read.

But, if you have taken the time to know yourself and what you want in life, those dreams are you future.  When you look with a backwards perspective from assumption of having reached those dreams, what is the value of the past that didn't work..... what is the value of the present that you are doing?  Each failure becomes a learning step, and each choice becomes guided by the future perspective.  Instead of feeling depressed for not being there, yet, you can draw joy from a future perspective that you are only on chapter 2 with a lot of story to go to get to your reams.  You'll get there.

So, I will be adopting a future perspective of my life.  I know what I want to achieve and experience.  If choices do not lead me there, those choices can be made better.  I will not know exactly how the end result will look, but that's where hope comes into play.  Hope is knowing you trust the result, even if you do not know the way, and that leads us back to adventure.  So, I challenge you this week to look at your life from the perspective of days to come, and I will be doing the same.

Forward .. To .. Happiness

Periodically, I do a post to remind others and sometimes myself of the name and theme of this blog.  I began this blog a LONG time ago.  There has been a few times of my having deleted all the posts in times of wanting change but I generally circled back to the same themes, which I will discuss, here.  

FORWARD to happiness - Forward, because that is how we live.  It is not saying that there wasn't happiness in the past.  Indeed, you should have quite a lot of that in your memories and old pics.  I am not saying that you should not value that happiness, because I believe it is very important to protect the good in the past for the good that it was and not try to reframe it.  All of the things in your past were important in teaching you and growing you and just helping you to be.  However, we cannot continue to live there, because those days are no more.  You have to live in today and move towards tomorrow.  If you spend all of your time in the past, you cannot enjoy the present or future or be what you should be for yourself or others.  There is happiness to be had in this day and the days to come, both what you can receive and what you can give to others.

forward TO happiness - Life is a constant journey.  It is important to recognize that it .. and you... are constantly changing and evolving.  Yesterday was interesting, and tomorrow might be exciting.  However, today is the moment where you have to pick up the pen and start sketching or writing what you are experiencing and enjoying and feeling and thinking and living.  Today is the moment of exploration, where you do not have to have all the answers.  You will not.  In fact, today is the day where you get to find the answers by asking the questions of yourself and others.  It is also important to actually BE on the journey.. to leap from your hobbit house and say, "I'm going on an adventure."  And, it will definitely be an adventure.. some good and some bad but all learning and all real.  What a pity it would be to miss it by living "a life standing still" as the character says in Beautiful Creatures.  Finally, it is an adventure forward TO something, not running away from something.  Look for the positive and look up.  It can be a beautiful thing to see.

forward to HAPPINESS -  As I just said, look for the positive.  I am trying to do that more and more, though sometimes I fail.  Consider everything from the positive mindset.  Not... what am I avoiding but what can I gain.  Not... I don't like that but I do like THAT.  Not.. this is what I fear or dislike or tiredness or despair (even though it is important to let feelings flow through you and leave you) but this is what I believe or like or have hope to be and experience.  This is a new day, and tomorrow is not written.

So, I hope this blog post will remind you.. and me.. that you walk with your face forward, because that is where life takes place.. step by step, moving through life and experiencing today as you discover tomorrow.  I look forward to the places your journey will take you. 

The Good in This Moment

I saw a meme that I shared, today, that said that if you are only looking at what you lack, then even your past reflections will see absense, only.  Instead, you should look at the good that exists.  I think that is a very good challenge for myself.  There was good in the past...lots of it.  There will be good in the future.. including some of the good of the past.  However, those are other posts.  For this one, I am going to focus, exclusively, on the good that I have in this moment...

 - I am alive, and therefore have hope of a future.

- I am able to see, hear, walk and run, and enjoy other activities of a functional body.

- I have two sources of income at the present moment and until the end of September.  If that remains to be true, I will have over 10 thousand saved up, after paying off debts, as well.

- I have a car that I own, without having

 to make payments.

- I have more books than I can read in several years.

- Even in my current extended stay, I have free cable, a kitchenette, lots of clothes and items that would take several carloads to move; and I plan to relocate to a better residence, soon.

- I have a very nice smartphone and laptop computer.

- I have a very welcoming church with good teachers and many friends.

- I live in a city that has a great variety of activities that I like from baseball to the arts to nice paths to walk to concerts and more.

- I have the ability to have a wonderful connection to my mother, my sister, her kids, and their kids. 

- I can listen to music, every night.

- I have love for myself, hope for the future, and faith in the grace of God and the outcome of effort.

There is much more that I can write, and I will keep reflecting on more examples.  However, I have a good life, that many would only wish to have.  May I be gracious and giving to those without, as I learn to be happy in the moment, even as I continue to strive for more happiness to come.