To be able to run the good race and walk the right path.

Coastal Path Dalgety Bay.

On Boxing day I was up very early in time to catch the sunrise in Letham Woods on the coastal path. This was a trip down memory lane. I used to live not far from here and I used to run through those woods often. Here I was now walking, how things change, and not always as expected. 

I thought back to those days of running those muddy tracks and obstacles and wished I was doing it still. But I could remember back to the time when if I ever felt like running I would go and lie down until the feeling wore off. 

Going even further back I can remember playing in those woods with my friends. School holidays and all the time in the world. A jam sandwich and a bottle of water and off for the day until it was time to return home for evening meal. 

When we are young and seemingly invincible, we have our whole lives to live, to explore, to play.

In our carefree state, we connect easily, even if briefly, just to play. We are not at all concerned about, nor do we even care about what lies ahead.

As we begin to mature, we also begin to lose our childlike sense of wonder. One day, out of the blue, an almost nebulous awareness creeps into our imagination. The wonderment of juvenile days become a new type of wonder; one of skepticism and doubt. Innocence has somehow slipped away without notice. 

As you know, life gets messy. We try to sort out our feelings. There are times we feel disconnected. 

We feel just like  OOSOOM (Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind.)

When we begin to discover who we are, an outline begins to emerge, we begin to look to tomorrow and what it might hold for us. Along the way, because we are inexperienced, we pick things such as bad habits, faux pas and misgivings. 

We aren’t wise enough yet to let them go, or to realise what an unnecessary burden we carry around with us. We begin to listen to other peoples opinions of us, and tend to give them more weight than they deserve.

The colour of life slowly erodes into shades of uncertainty. If we are not careful, we trade  our brilliance for jaded judgment, rusty reasoning, and tarnished thinking.

If we are less mindful than we ought to be, nothing fits. 

What used to work, no longer holds true.

But because life is a dynamic puzzle, when we are discouraged, we can pick up the pieces of our lives and still move forward. We can pick up hope and cling to dreams.

One day we discover that which completes us. We discover true love. From that point on, you are inseparably connected.

Things begin to take on a new shape and we find a purpose in our life. Completely surrounding us are the important decisions, which need to each be carefully weighed and given a deliberate measure of consideration. 

The wisest amongst us learn to set down and skillfully replace any bad habits we may have picked up along the way and replace them with good habits. The foolish of us cling to and add to the bad habits.

All going well we see the big picture of our lives and work to bring it to frutition. We begin to see our place in the great design of life. Life can be and often is a puzzle but we all have a part to play and a place in which we can fit. 

Because life is indeed like a puzzle and we all fit in somewhere, it just sometimes takes longer for some than others to figure out where we in fact do fit. 

May today be another day of discovery. There is such a joy in finding that there is yet something else you did not know you could do. 

Run the good race and follow the road that leads to inner peace.