Observations

With my new goal to focus more attention on this blog, I am realizing that the benefit of such a task is the constant searching for topics to write about. I am finding myself both more observant of my surroundings and more curious. Yesterday, while wandering the aisles of Barnes & Noble, I noticed a man walking with a cane. Immediately my heart broke for this man. He was stooped over, the rubber foot on his cane was worn at an angle from constant use and his facial expression looked heavy under the weight of what I presumed to be his overwhelming sadness.

But I was projecting that on to him. What I realized upon further reflection, and when he passed me about 15 more times during my visit to the store, was that this was a man who was out and about, perusing bookstore shelves. He was looking at magazines, bestsellers, sale books. He wasn’t sitting at home feeling sorry for himself. He was interacting with the world. He wasn’t letting his handicap slow him down for a second.

We create our happiness. We can either feel sorry for ourselves and wallow in self-pity, or we can pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and jump into life. We need to take advantage of every opportunity to learn, grow, and expand our social circles. There are times when most of us would like to stay in bed all day and avoid our hectic lives, but then what are you left with? No stories. No adventures. No discoveries whatsoever. Life is meant to be lived and this man, with his cane and his limp, is living his life. The worn rubber foot of the cane initially filled me with sorrow because it meant years of using that same cane to navigate a treacherous world. But looking at it from a different angle, I can see that that man has been using his cane! He hasn’t been sitting down, waiting for the end. He has been getting up and getting out, in whatever way he can. God gave him a cane and he is using it and not letting it slow him down or stop him on his pursuit of a life well-lived.