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HAND LENDING

Thursday Jan. 29, 2015


Like that child shootin’ hoops who asks, ‘daddy, can I get a do over?’.

Every day, everyone – another take, another shot, another try – each do-over opportunity to improve yesterday’s performance, fix last week’s mistakes, last month’s insufficiencies.

What about past – opportunities passed-by, chances not taken, leaps never leapt, things we could have done – when setbacks and disappointments or missed opportunities let us believe those moments were lost, those ideas were not worthy and perhaps that we weren’t worthy?

Life = do-over.

Do-again, do-first time opportunities, collection of do-whatever we never dared, calls never made, questions never asked, courses never taken and that ultimate metaphor roadmap – roads not taken. Frost’s* words no less powerful today – paths and choices we face.

Future full of life, nothing is predetermined.

Whatever path you want, take it.

Whatever path you are on, stay on it – or choose another, and another, and another.

So many paths want wear.

Anywhere you want, we can help anyone we want – if we want to. Common sense, isn’t it, that to have an effect or impact, we need to reach out our helping hand. Most of us do, and most of us do it often.

What about us?

Who reaches out to help us when we need/want help? If we are watched over and nurtured by people in our life, great … just let them do their thing.

But most of us don’t have that very often, if at all.

We need, therefore, to be our own helping hand – be our own outstretched arm, our own lender of support.

Lend someone (yourself) a helping hand, direct yourself to a new path …


Mark Kolke

P.S. : Robert Frost died, this date in 1963

column written/ published from Calgary, AB

morning walk:  -3C/26F, clear … and warm day forecast; grimy snow mounds here and there and in shadows behind houses and fences, soon gone to make way for more. Gusta walking slow, over-sniffing every chance I give her but she can’t budge things from frozen ground …

Reader feedback:

NOT SO TINY THINGS

Thank you for sharing, Mark. They are beautiful. We think alike... , KL, Sherwood Park, AB


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