Sunday, March 19, 2017

navigate your course

 Some of us spend our lives looking out and others looking in. It is a basic part of our personalities I think. As for me, I'm looking in. I've always been a little on the outside of things. I spend more time observing than participating. I don't just go with the crowd. Maybe that is why I was never one for fad or fashion. I'd be looking and sometimes it just looked silly. Long hair was one of those things. Not that my parents would have allowed it, but I've always thought it was rather a foolish thing for a man. Just not practical in my opinion, and I'm not wearing any pony tails ! It is an individual choice and more power to you if you want that. I mention that as an illustration of " looking in. " I was detached from that cultural shift even though I lived through it. The whole hippie thing. It looked like fun, I won't deny that, but I saw more than that. Well the view was different from my perch. All of that plays a part in it, what I would call your cultural heritage. I've just never felt like an insider. Insiders always seem like conspirators to me and I don't like conspiracy. It just has that whole dishonest feel to it, dirty some how. Could that be a result of being told to be leery of those " from away " as the saying went ? I did wonder what folks were afraid of with those outsiders ? Yet, I didn't feel like an insider, a part of the conspiracy, I was on the outside even then. Further observation on my part has proven the validity of that caution, yes, those outsiders should have been held at bay but economics dictated otherwise.  
 The problem with looking in is that you are looking at the past. I find that true for me anyway. I'm looking in trying to see what I was told would be there. I was told to look and listen. I'm not easily convinced about things. I need to see some evidence first. Evidence by its' very nature always exists in the past. So that is why I'll never be cutting edge. Thing is the cutting edge gets dull. Then you have to keep looking for something else. I strive to be consistent and reliable. The reason is a simple one, those are the qualities I most admire in a person. I want someone I can count on, every time. I like to know what I've got. If you want to build a life you need a solid foundation. If the foundation is strong the rest of it can weather the storms that come along. Randy Travis wrote a song called the Storms of Life, this is the chorus,
I'd better change my wandrin ways,
I know I've seen my better days,
Always gettin' high when I get low
Well, I left my soul out in the rain,
Lord, what a price I've had to pay
The storms of life are washin' me away
I believe he was talking about just that. If you are always wandering around, looking out for the next road to take, you will get lost. It may seem exciting and fun for a while but the price must be paid. If I am going to pay a price I'd like to know just what it is I am buying. It is a cautious approach to life. The funny thing is I have never thought of myself as a cautious person. The truth is I have conservative values. Stranger still is nowadays those values are being questioned ? Of course I realize that has always been the case. All throughout the history of man that has been so. Do we not say, you need to be on the cutting edge ? To be otherwise is to be perceived as backwards. Looking back ? Yes, I like to look back, to look in, rather than stare outside wondering what is there.
  The word for that is introspection. It is something I was doing long before I even knew the word for it. As I said I believe it is just a part of our basic personality. I don't believe a person can change that about themselves either. Your personality conforms to your soul is my thinking. The two are inextricably linked. One can spend their lifetime trying to separate them but you will not be successful. As Randy Travis said, the storms of life will wash you away. If you are aware of that, spend that time in introspection, the storms can be lessened. The storms of life will come, no matter what, but you can be prepared. The best way to do that is by looking to the past and seeing what works. Try not to get caught up in the crowd and navigate your own course is my advice. Yes, there are times we should change course but that shouldn't happen often. I've made a few adjustments myself.        

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