the reed mantra

"A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." ~ Chinese Proverb

Lately, I've realized, more than ever, how important it is to adapt, to learn resilience and bend as life continues to pitch upon you its burdens.

For as our lives become more complex and our circle of responsibility expands, the growth of obligation which comes hand-in-hand with this unfurling happiness circuitously unfolds in equal measure.

Thus, we have a choice—either bend or be broken.

Saturday morning I woke up with a short list of things to do, and an even shorter timeframe in which to do them. Although, I anticipated it might be somewhat more challenging, I was resolved to mediate the incongruency by combining tasks.

Hence, I decided to exercise and do some shopping by running two miles to the local strip mall with a backpack which had all but twenty dollars in it and the intentions of filling it with frames and fruit.

Thanks to serendipitous sales, upon my return trip, the backpack was filled with 4-8x10 and 4-5x8 wood picture frames, 6 tangelos, 4 granny smith apples, 4 bananas and a tin of jiffy popcorn for Oscar's night the next evening—all for under $20.

What a bargain.

The true price however, was now having to run two miles back home with twenty pounds strapped to my back.

In sum, I went from super sales, to super a work-out, to being super tired by the end of the day.

Mentally though, I was incredibly invigorated. Because, as I was running, I could not help but think that—life is tough. And thus, it becomes exponentially critical to not only remain supple, but also to breath deeply, think positively, act creatively and create opportunity out of all the growing pains.

When written in Chinese, the word "crisis” (pronounced way-jee) is composed of two characters: one represents danger, the other opportunity. The happiest amongst us will always recognize the former, but focus on cultivating the latter in order the make the most out of every living moment.

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l.m