” When you make a choice, you make a future.”
~Deepak Chokra
Our lives can change in the blink of an eye. We know this though we mostly move through our days as if it were not the case. Whether we are attached to the minutiae that makes up our minutes, our hours, our days, or we have an elaborate plan for how life will go and we are sticking to it, no matter what, we mostly behave as if we have more control over our living than we do. I think it has probably always been the case, our brains and egos being what they are. But our ancestors probably had fewer expectations and a greater sense of both the beauty and the danger that is this living. Their lives were perhaps simpler. They lived closer to the Source, however they might have named that and may have had a more realistic sense of the fragility of it all.
This week has brought this wisdom to the forefront for me once again. I have thought of all those who traveled to Boston thinking they knew, at least in part, how their time there would play out. They had made plans, reservations, trained well or not quite enough and they had a pretty good idea how the days would unfold. Of course, we know that did not happen and these fine people, and we in turn, have been living with the ways in which life can go so differently than the plans we make. It is one more reminder of the ways we are inextricably linked together on this planet. Whether we like it or not.
Our lives change not only in the face of sorrow and disaster but also in those moments of joy and revelation that come to us. A phone call comes and a new opportunity presents itself, one we had not had dared to imagine. Where no children had been present in a relationship, a pregnancy or an adoption changes everything in ways there is no way to prepare for. A teacher affirms a child and a creative spark is lit that will take that child down a lifetime road of creativity no one had dreamed for them. A kind word is spoken. A seed is planted. A hand is held out. All these and so much more have the potential to be life changing.
As humans we must sometimes work very hard to be awake and aware to this gift of living. And how we approach each day depends a great deal on the power, and it is power, of our ability to decide how we will react to any given situation or person that comes our way. I am imagining those who were present in Boston on Monday and the choices they are now making about their reactions, their fears, their grace, their hopes, their ability to move on. My prayers go out to them.
Yesterday, I witnessed a full bodied example of this power of choice. Minnesotans in general are reaching deep into their creative pockets to find new ways to deal with the winter that will not end. Yesterday we were hit once again with a powerful snowstorm which paralyzed the roads and caused people’s faces to glaze over in an ‘I can’t believe this is happening’ look. I was making my way along the East River Road having decided to abandon the freeway that had become a parking lot. Though we were not moving quickly, we were moving in a slow, steady fashion and, I must admit, it was beautiful.
Up ahead, standing at the side of the road, I saw a tall figure holding a sign. My first thought was, ” Who is hitchhiking on the River Road? In the snow?” My mind raced thinking about whether or not this was even legal. I didn’t think it was and felt a sense of apprehension. As I got closer, I saw that this young man was holding a piece of cardboard with a single word on it: Smile. And he was. And I did. And I waved at him, a wave of thanks and deep gratitude for making a choice to not be overcome by this storm of white and inviting all who passed to make a choice they may have not intended to make.
This one person with one single word on a hand painted sign took hold of the power he had to change the perception of any person who was willing to be drawn into his sweet, guerrilla act. It has been a difficult week that has held more than we wanted to hold. I am thankful for this one person who decided to make a small, quiet difference. In the course of this week, I know there are others who have done much more heroic acts. But yesterday, at about 5:30 p.m., this guy was my hero.
