Life’s Doo-Doo

I chuckled as I ran by this bench on a recent morning run. “Embrace life and enjoy the view.” A bird, doing what birds do, left an addition to the message. Did it change the message? It made me smile. I had run past and decided to turn around and take the pictures in this collage. Writing ideas often come to me while running or walking, and frequently include Nature. This was just a different take on what is natural.

“Manure occurs.” This is the farmer’s daughter’s version of “sh** happens.” “If you want to hear God laugh, tell Her your plans.” We have many catchy ways to say it and all essentially lead to this–you and I control our own attitudes and actions while the rest is pretty much out of our hands. We know this, and we hate this. We try so hard to manage unmanageables, maneuver outcomes, avoid difficulties, and so on. Sure, we can be well-intentioned and good-hearted, but we still set ourselves and others up for disappointment and exhaustion.

If a passerby takes a moment to take a seat at this bench, a memorial given by a family honoring their loved ones, you can look out and see the Mississippi River. Turning around and looking the other way, the varied greens of this marshy area can be appreciated. It is one of my favorite places to witness the changing seasons in our river town.

Heavy stuff goes on in our lives–from illness to moves and job changes, from troubled relationships to financial insecurity. We can let that consume us and then we miss the view and the chuckle. If we are always busy avoiding life’s doo-doo, we miss plenty of the beauty too.

Pause. The breather is good self-care. Participate in the here and now. The energy is flowing here.

There will always be more doo-doo, and there will always be more opportunity to put it in perspective via a moment of surrender to the awe and possibility around us. Surrender to the simplicity. Onward!