Out of the spotlight

It's cooler this morning, but the birds haven't been affected by the lower temps since they're chattering and calling back and forth from the trees. They were flying and circling, dipping and soaring as I walked to the mailbox in the predawn darkness. It's not the rain I want and that keeps falling all around me, but it's invigorating all the same.

This morning, as I eat strawberries and a bowl of frosted mini wheats, I feel like things are coming into focus. The past couple of months have been challenging, but not anything I couldn't handle. I've learned a lot about handling the unexpected over the past two decades and one thing I've learned is not to jump to conclusions. When things are difficult or just not going the way they were planned, there is always the tendency to look for trouble where there is none, to believe someone is out to hurt or malign you when they have no thought of you or your situation. People are far more similar than we realize. The problem is that when a person is having problems the tendency is to see anything and everything pointing directly at us like an accusing or taunting finger. We couldn't be more wrong. It's just like committing some small indiscretion or even a bigger crime and feeling guilty, certain everyone knows and is accusing us. Nothing could be further from the truth, but at one time or another we all tend to be drama queens hogging the spotlight.

It's at moments like these when the only sounds, sights and smells are those of a cool and beautiful late spring morning with the sun climbing through the trees when it's easy to see how myopic things can get. This is what I want and need, this quiet serenity, this island of peace and privacy, these moments with the taste of fragrant fresh strawberries on my tongue while cool breezes finger the blinds, carrying the sounds of bird song and the scent of dew-laden honeysuckle. Anything is possible right now even though there is a day filled with work and chores and errands to be run ahead of me. Because of these quiet and peaceful moments, nothing else matters; everything will fall into place and get done and the world will spin along and focus on someone else.