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Thursday, December 01, 2005
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thoughts on horizons
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I friend said something to me last Sunday which has provoked much thought. He told me, "You need to broaden your horizons." Now, this was said in jest and with the point being that I should meet new people. I defended myself at the time saying that I was perfectly content with my horizons the way they are.
But I have since thought of it more seriously. If he is right and I should "broaden my horizons," perhaps I should look more closely at this idea. Picture yourself in a large open space with different views on the horizon. There is a large city to your left, the buildings blue in the distance, an ocean to the right constantly rolling on, night and day, a forest with tall pine trees towering behind you from which you have just come, and mountains rising up before you. You stand in that open plain between all these places. You have many options.
You may be content to just stand there in the middle of the plain; maybe build a house and live there forever where you can see everything around you from a safe distance. If you choose this option, you will be required to make no effort. Nothing is demanded of you except what you currently do. You do not broaden any of your horizons.
You may want to retreat back into the safety and closeness of the woods you are so familiar with.
You can turn toward the city.
You may be drawn to the steadiness of the sea.
You may want to climb the mountains.
The horizon you decide to journey toward will broaden as you come closer. The others will be passed by, or will narrow with the distance you place between them and yourself. If you walk toward the mountain, the forest will become obscure. You will enjoy the climb, but the horizon you have left behind will become narrow and obscure. You may journey toward the city and embrace life there, but you will not be able to see the ocean.
A choice must be made. To broaden one horizon, you must leave another behind.
This is especially hard sometimes, when you are journeying with others; people who have become your friends as you walked through the forest together. These friends sometimes choose the city or the mountains, or even the forest, while you choose the ocean. Paths that have lain alongside each other separate when they reach the plain. Some of us stand in the plain for a long time trying to decide where to go, or waiting to see where the others will turn. Some of us know exactly where we're going and what we will do when we get there. Some of our paths divert. Some of them lay along the same way.
An interesting idea, broadening the horizon . . . |
posted by cori
12/01/2005 12:41:00 PM
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Leslie. . . You have such a way with writing. You made me cry this time! I guess maybe because there is so much change around me now, and I can relate to "standing in the plain." It is comforting to know that the Lord knows our Path, and promises to direct our steps when we commit our ways to Him.
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Thanks Dani. These things have been running through my mind lately. It's nice to have a place to write them down (and be forced to make logic out of them) for others to ponder too. :)
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| Sounds like some kind of sports thing, but in reality, the ShugaBowl is just a little hideaway for me, Sugarcube herself, to let loose my thoughts and occasional creativeness. |
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Leslie. . . You have such a way with writing. You made me cry this time! I guess maybe because there is so much change around me now, and I can relate to "standing in the plain." It is comforting to know that the Lord knows our Path, and promises to direct our steps when we commit our ways to Him.