the monday nugget

Seems like there sure is a whole lotta chatter goin' on about the bumps in the road. The other side of that coin is there also seems to be an equal amount {of chatter} about all the stuff we have to be thankful for. Kinda cool to see/hear the balance.

So, I got up this morning with a bunch of whispers, some from conversations I've had over the past week, others from the Big Me, nudging me to share all this with ya'll.

And so...

"Thorns" ~ Have you ever thought about why roses have thorns? Do you realize that without those thorns, most of those beautiful blooms would never be seen? They'd get eaten by hungry deer or other critters looking for a tasty snack, never to be smelled, touched or taken in by our human senses. In other words, thorns are GOOD. Not so much fun when they 'git ya', but good nonetheless.

Now what if we were to look at the bumps in the road, the trials and struggles and challenges we face, as our own thorns? What if we saw them as necessary to our expansion? A means to both protect us and allow us to blossom? What if, for once, we looked at them as a way for us to slow down, put it in idle, and listen to what we're being asked to hear? Perhaps those bumps are there to offer some needed tool or lesson before we can go forward. Perhaps they're there so we can do a little maintenance check on our happy little engines. Or, perhaps, they're simply there so we can STOP long enough to refuel and investigate what we might otherwise overlook for going so freakin' fast down the highway of our lives.

It's easy to be grateful for our blessings. When things are good, we may (if we are mindful) say thank-you to whomever or whatever has brought the good. But what about when things are not-so-good? Do we ever say thank you for those moments? Do we stop long enough to acknowledge that those moments/events/situations may very well be blessings in disguise?

Thorns on roses, bumps in the road, weeds in the garden, grey and rainy skies....ALL are blessings without which our lives would be less than they are now. We need them. And, it seems, when we can step back long enough to see this and be grateful for them, we are adding valuable nourishment to the Gardens that are our LIVES.

The thorns will only make you to bleed if you ignore them.

So DON'T.