Sunday, February 21, 2010

In A Split Second

How quickly things change.

It’s one of those things about life that I both love and hate.

On one hand, when it seems like there’s no way out; when all that can be seen is endless increments of time in the same situation, with the same state of affairs filling the same unfulfilled places in the same life… until, in a moment, it happens.

One minute you’re plodding along, just getting by, trying to make it to the next good day and in the next minute, the phone rings, you open your inbox to find, “one unread message” or you see someone on the street and every moment forward is no longer the same.

On the other hand, when all is well, when you feel like you’re getting traction and progress has launched you toward the spot you’ve been striving for… then in an instant, you can’t get your bearings. Seatbelt check! The world is upside down and inside out. One knock on the door, one voicemail or the sound of a text message blip and now there is a line on the road that means everything is different.

It’s the paradox of the blissful and heart-wrenching existing from the same possibility. How we handle the speed with which our lives change course can be imperative to how our lives play out. 

I’ve been in shock for 3 days.

It’s not my story to tell so the details will remain sketchy here but never the less, it’s a story of change, in an instant.

Dreams and direction on hold for so long that it seemed it would never happen. Months of discouragement and dead ends and then, with one phone call and only a few days notice, the scenery changes and a major shift in life is in full swing for those close to me.

It’s a hopeful reminder to me when I get bogged down that, although, yes, there are times when positive turns to negative quickly, just as fast, the stagnant things that seem as though they will never turn around, do.

How will I handle that?

When you long for change to sweep away the doldrums, it could happen in this minute, will you be ready when it happens?

While I’m speaking about change that seems it will never happen, I have my own story that took place just today.

My crazy neighbor moved out!

The end of an era, a day I thought would never come and I couldn’t be happier.

You better believe I’ve been ready for this one. 

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