Recently after a particularly difficult time I found myself doubting my ability to find the good in the situation.....I'm usually pretty good at 'bouncing back'...yet this time was particularly hard.....
I found that I had experienced a series of disappointments, difficulties, and moments of distress and it simply caught up with me......I found myself walking to my vehicle and sitting in the deserted parking lot and crying......crying out of the frustration of not being able to make it all better....crying out of the hurt of feeling that sometimes trying to do the 'right thing' doesn't get you where you need to be in life......crying from disappointment in realizing someone you trusted could not be trusted.....crying at the idea of not knowing where to turn next.........
Yet after a few minutes of tears, I realized something more.....I felt better. It simply felt good to 'get it out'......it felt good to for a moment in the quiet and seclusion of my vehicle to simply 'let me guard down'.......it was ok....and I would be ok......actually......(I could feel myself 'bouncing back!')...I would be GREAT!
At that moment as I dried my tears my cell phone buzzed with a message from a friend....she shared with me a quote she had been given at a difficult time in her life.......the quote was: "The barn has burned down. Now I can see the stars.".......it was timely, it was profound, it was perfect!
Yes....I was at a point where I felt the 'barn had burned down'....I had no place else to turn.......yet despite that, I could see the stars.....I knew they were there....there were no more obstacles in the way of truly seeing their full glory! I realized that the stars had a unique quality. Despite their distance and the darkness, if we look, we can see their shimmering and sparkling qualities. We simply have to look.......
Too often we put our heads down and look at the barn that has burned..........at the ashes........we keep our eyes focused on what is in front of us rather than what is above and beyond us.......we get busy shoveling the debris and lose sight of the change in scenery and circumstances. We lose sight of the stars above.
Do you ever feel like your 'barn has burned down' and you're stuck with a gigantic ash pile? THAT is when instead of looking DOWN we need to look BEYOND! We need to look at what the barn was obscuring from our view. We need to look at the new lines of the horizon ahead. We need to look at what does sparkle and shimmer around us!
My wish for you all is when faced with an obstacle or despair......look beyond! When the smoke clears, there is always a brighter day! Cherish the stars in your life!!
Enjoy the day!
Glenna
