Who Are Your Navigators?

     Sitting in the front seat of the car with a wrinkled map in my lap, my passenger foot brake planted firmly on the floor and my blood pressure elevated, I followed the winding red and blue lines, reading the fine print and randomly shouting, “Turn here!” It was always a disaster waiting to happen. We eventually arrived at every destination on our vacation agendas, but not without numerous stories, some quite dramatic, and various mishaps and detours. Traveling was different in the 80’s, and everyone in the car had a role. My role was navigator, not because I was an experienced traveler with vast knowledge of golden roads and magic highways. No, I was a navigator by default. Nik was too young to read a map, and Darren was in too much of a hurry for me to drive.

     Like those vacations, life is a journey.  Oftentimes, we don’t even think about where we are going or how we are going to get there, but that is not the worst problem that plagues many. Our biggest handicap is we don’t even stop to wonder, along the way, who is our navigator. We are following randomly placed navigators in our life or ones who show up at a convenient moment and become our navigator by default. This can happen in our spiritual life, our political life, our family life, our social life, our work life. I think that covers enough that you get the picture.  I am sure the miraculous presence of deliberately chosen navigators brought a small band of soccer players out of a dark, wet cave against all odds.  I am sure the mama duck navigating twelve babies across the lakeshore road at peak traffic time delivering her waddling family safely to the other side is because she was meant for the job. We can survive life following default navigators, but if we want to thrive, it is time to stop and ask- who are my navigators?

Peace. Love, Linda

Don't Miss the Morning

     It's summer time, a time to sweat and complain, a time to rush into the AC and off baking parking lots, a time to cherish the rain and gripe about its frequent occurrence. It's just summer time, and as I drove to the shop, I sped past colorful shiny reflections in still ponds, bursting bushes laden with pink and white crepe myrtles, deep green clumps of trees and thick grasses, and I really didn't see them for what they were until a little bird in the big, green oak outside the shop started a trill that caught my ear. I was pulling the blue recycle bin off the curb to the front of the building and getting ready to open the big garage doors for business when it stopped me in my tracks. I looked at the incredible blue sky and  a white wisp of a cloud, I breathed in the coolest air of a long, hot day and felt its calm. I stopped and stared at the pink laden myrtles by the road, and said a prayer of thanksgiving for another beautiful day of life. Yes, it's summer time, a time to sweat and complain, but while you are at it, don't miss the morning.

Peace. Love, Linda

Dreams for Our Children

     My daughter is a Taurus in every since of its definition.  She was born in the spring, and with a will of iron, she started her life journey.  At times, I was flummoxed as to what to do with her when she was very young. She was loving and talented and funny and bright and had a head like a rock. She wanted control from the time she popped out of my womb with such force the doctor almost dropped her. She was magnificent then, and she is magnificent now. However, we look at the world the same in some ways and very differently in others, which brings me to my dream.

     We were together on a journey to who knows where, Nikky and I, and at the point I remember the dream vividly, we had reached a summit, quite high and steep. It was like a giant sand dune we had to conquer. We stood side by side and looked down the high, steep precipice. I felt, not dread, but a sense of peace, confidence. I had done this descent before. I knew that all I had to do was put my back to the cliff and dig my feet into the dense sand and somewhat slide my way down. I looked at Nik and was ready to direct her with my knowledge when she put her hands over her head in a motion used for diving into a pool and immediately plunged down the side of the cliff. I took off my way, anxious at first, for her safety, but soon realizing we had both landed securely at the bottom, and she had not broken her neck, as I had temporarily feared.

     We have dreams for our children just as our parents had dreams for us, but our children are not us. If we teach them to be independent and set them free, they grow strong, survive well, and conquer sand dunes...head first. We give them our knowledge when they are young, and if we are smart, we learn from theirs as we grow older. God bless our children. They are the living dreams for our future.

    Peace. Love, Linda