Around the Bend

Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” Another person said, “That situation just came out of nowhere.” Still another said, “I was just traveling through life with everything going okay and then all of the sudden, BAM!, it hit me like a ton of bricks.” People have all kinds of descriptions for the unexpected events in life. The difficulty with living is that there is very few occasions for when a person knows everything that is going to happen to them. One day everything is fine, and then suddenly, without warning, something new arrives and their lives are changed forever. There really is no sure way to see what is coming around the bend.

Roads are interesting especially in the mountains. Bends, curves, twists and turns are the only path available that is somewhat safe. On foggy nights, a person may only see as far as five feet in front of their car, and precaution is at a maximum. That's the way it is in life. One can really only see a small amount in front of them, and as they carefully maneuver themselves from one curve to another, there may be a few unexpected events around the bend.

“Where did that circumstance came from?” and “what in the world did a person do to deserve that?” only serve to push a person toward making some kind of meaning of it all. The way to manage events that come unexpectedly around the bend is to be ready in advance for their coming. They're on the path, and they are unavoidable as long as a person breathes. Once someone realizes that this is just a part of the pathway, when the bends come, their impact isn't as disabling as if one acts as though nothing surprising is out there. The way to deal with the “Bends” in life is to know they're coming, be ready to react, and know that the road continues beyond them. That is, of course, unless around the bend the sign reads, “Dead End.” Then the traveler has no worry of the bends anymore.

Until tomorrow...Why Say More?