The River

I remember the nights well. The first passionate kiss, the echoes of my voice throughout the city, the cadence of the darkness tremoring beneath our feet as walked the pavement at two in the morning. I remember the heady feeling, the hard turn of destiny, in which eternity felt compulsive and inevitable. The future opened wide and swallowed us whole. 

Vladimir Lenin once said "There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen."  These words hold as much truth as any that have ever been spoken. 

For years, we can be going along in our lives and nothing really interesting ever happens. We begin to feel a bit dull. And then, like a lighting bolt shot out of Valhalla, our whole world changes. Inevitable, unstoppable, like a damn bursting the in fabric of the cosmos. This is happening and many times, there isn't a damned thing we can do about it. 

For many years, I would do my best to fight the turning of the tide, until I received some sage advice from a great mentor. He put it this way "Life is like a river. Each experience is but something passing on the bank as you travel with the current. Sure, you can turn to swim upstream, swallowing water and exhausting yourself in the process. But how much better is it to turn and face the direction of the current, peace and a sense of exhilaration in your heart as you navigate the waters?"

And he's right. Our life might change in moments..or it might take years. But the changes always feel surreal, almost intended. Magic moments. Whether they take us to good or evil - watch them as they pass one by one the riverbank. Then, leave them. Don't dwell there, but move with the waters of existence to the next destination. 

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream..