Trivial Pursuits

Yesterday  I watched a pair of ducks trying to get upstream. I am sure that the flow is usually gentle and easy but it had stormed so there was more water and wind than normal.  They struggled against the waves getting forced back against the rocks with every attempt, exhausting themselves.  Finally, one duck paddled to the bank  and although slipping on the wet stones a few times, successfully walked over the rocks and around the little rapids to the other side of the water they had been trying so hard to swim to. The other duck watched his buddy walk to the bank  they were trying to reach, but contiued to struggle where he was.   It made me think about how often I embark on stubborn, trivial pursuits in  my own life.

As comfortable as we may be with a certain way of doing things it is silly, when faced with new circumstances, to expect old methods to produce the same results. That is exactly what we do however, when a new normal brings with it issues that we don't want to accept.  Honestly, there are elements of my own new normal  that I have avoided for reasons that range from  unfamiliarity to "I just don't like this." Because of that I am constantly bracing for something to happen,  or waiting for the "other shoe to drop", not fully enjoying the present because I am worried about the future. That's no way to live; in fact it's not  living at all.

There will be different stages in all of our lives and they all won't Inspire celebration. Struggling  against our new normals is an exercise in futility. We  exhaust ourselves, and  get  no where all the while scratching our heads in disbelief that the tried and true methods of the past aren't working.  I'm not suggesting that you give up your forward press because you are faced with obstacles.  I am just saying that sometimes when the circumstances change you have to decide to go forward a different way.

Like those ducks doing what they had always done to get upstream  I thought that the path I was on for my life and the way I was living it would never change.  That was not the case. I found that  I was trying to move forward in one direction while my companion was not and the tide got increasingly rough. lt didn't matter how dedicated I was or how hard my feet were kicking.  I (we) were getting no where.  Here's the thing:  sometimes the peaceful streams that we are used to, change.   Sometimes it  rains (a lot). Sometimes the winds are brutal.  Sometimes the waves get rough. As our lives unfold we will lose precious time flailing against the current until we acknowledge that there has been a change and act accordingly.  A new normal isn't bad...it's just new and we  have to  be brave enough or sick and tired enough to raise up and do something different.