To say the week was challenging would be a rather big understatement and by yesterday evening, I was more than ready to escape into the world of a photo-shoot at Clearwater Beach.
A lovely young friend was down from GA for a few days and was interested in getting some shots done, so I grabbed cameras, lights, etc and did what I almost never do … cross downtown Tampa during rush hour.
Actually in fairness, it wasn’t too bad and I got to Clearwater in time to catch a lovely sunset.
I have put some pics taken from the balcony of my friend’s room, at the end of the blog. The colors were lovely and the setting so peaceful … I hope you enjoy!
By the time I drove home, I felt invigorated and fully charged. Though my body may been late-night tired, my soul responded to the respite from the week’s troubles.
The physical equivalent to a respite is that moment where you catch your breath, get a second wind, and are able to move forward.
All long journeys need moments of respite and life is our longest journey of all.
So when we feel beaten up or exhausted, being able to step away and do something that gives us a recharge can be the difference between able to handle what life is throwing at us, or not.
It doesn’t really matter what it is we do, as long as we can draw some positive energy from it. For me last night, it was a mixture of camera and friend that proved the right recipe. For those hours that I had distance from real-life, time stood still and my soul ran freely among the joys of being alive.
I think we can often lose sight of the benefits of being alive, when immersed in overwhelming troubles.
We repeatedly moan at the unfairness, or groan at the weight of what is happening. And rightly so!
But while we voice that, we also need to understand that all tunnels, no matter how long and dark, come to an end. If they didn’t, they would be called a cave.
While optimists talk about the light at the end of the tunnel and pessimists talk about the oncoming train, the realist has to dismiss both extremes and just deal with the reality that tunnels are oftentimes the only way to get from one side of a mountain to the other.
And when life presents us with a mountain of troubles, sometimes we just have to grin and bear it and be confident that eventually we will come out the other side.
How long it take, how bloodied we will be… who knows? We don’t have control over most of this shit, so better off to just take the punches and then, if you can, find a moment of respite when the journey feels too long and the punches too many.
No matter what they say, the one thing about life is that it beats the alternative.
… just a thought!
