Let's start with.. It's been a while, I know. Here I am, still me and in one piece. (I'll toast to that!)
Lately, all's that I find myself doing is placing myself in others shoes which I feel we all need to do from time to time. Recently, it seems more and more which can be quite overwhelming. The strange thing is that it's not just people that surround my life but happens to be strangers as well.
We get so wrapped up in our every day routine. We get so comfortable with what is familiar and are too scared to color outside the lines so to speak. I guess that starts leading into a discussion of change which isn't the way I choose to go this evening. Even though, alot floats around the concept of change.
What I'm feeling is the burdens yet important responsibilities which make us.. well us. The strength that keeps us going, what forces that strength. Why do some of us have it and others don't? Who gets to be strong and how strong can one be?
There are those who go through life only worrying about how things will affect their lives. It doesn't necessarily mean they don't care about others, they just got so wrapped up in their own lives they don't feel or can't find room to let anyone in. Those are the kind of people others cannot depend on. Those who are really strong and try to carry the world on their shoulders, wish at times and they can be those people.. but we can't.
For so long, I've often wondered how people can turn others away. I've come to the conclusion I can sit there hour after hour trying to put myself in ....that woman's shoes.. the one driving the car that almost knocked me off the road. It makes me angry that she wasn't watching where she was going. Then I take a deep breath and think okay, what reasons could it be she was driving too fast? I start come up with all these understandable reasons.. she was trying to get the Hospital... Who knows..
I try to put myself in .. that's man's shoes. The one who makes rude remarks to people as he walks bye. Why? Well, he probably had a terrible home life growing up. Is it an excuse for him to treat people so terribly? No, it's not. Then why? Who knows..
So looking back to these scenarios before I end up writing a book and get lost as I always do.. What these two scenarios are lacking in my eyes is strength. When we're strong, and this doesn't mean confident, just strong our hearts seem to work on overrtime. The world is lacking strength. Those around us everyday are lacking strength. They're missing the strength to.. here goes that word make a 'change'. They're sad and miserable because there was never someone with strength in their lives to encouragement them, push them, fix the record player so it's not on repeat over and over playing the same song.
We all need to find our own strength. The hardest part is controlling it and knowing how strong we can be before we burn ourselves out. We can't be super heroes. The world will crush us if it's on our shoulders. We pick our battles and choose when it's okay to step in. If you have strength, share. Get someone you love away from that neverending routine that seems to bring them down. Be strong for others, but at the same time don't lose yourself.
