MUSINGS and other writing by Mark Kolke

. . . . . . there is no edge to openness

TODAY'S MUSINGS

FEEDBACK / COMMENTS

MARK SPEAKS

MARK'S SPEAKING TIPS

ARCHIVED COLUMNS

ARCHIVE WINTER 2020-21

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2020

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2020

ARCHIVE SPRING 2020

ARCHIVE WINTER 2019-20

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2019

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2019

ARCHIVE SPRING 2019

ARCHIVE WINTER 2018-19

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2018

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2018

ARCHIVE SPRING 2018

ARCHIVE WINTER 2017-18

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2017

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2017

ARCHIVE SPRING 2017

ARCHIVE WINTER 2016/17

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2016

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2016

ARCHIVE SPRING 2016

ARCHIVE WINTER 2015/16

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2015

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2015

ARCHIVE SPRING 2015

ARCHIVE WINTER 2014/15

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2014

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2014

ARCHIVE SPRING 2014

ARCHIVE WINTER 2013/14

CONTACT

MY REAL ESTATE LIFE

WHY I WRITE MUSINGS

SHORT STORY PROJECT

POETRY PROJECT

SELECTED OTHER WORK

     
 

WHEN TURTLES FLY*

Saturday, January 2, 2021 - daily column # 6625
 
 
For those who struggle, call me. Call someone. Call for help. Reach out to 911. Don’t let your life be lost. I’ve lost my way, many times. I speak, not from wisdom necessarily, but certainly from experience.
 
Getting back on track and out of the ditch has proven difficult beyond imagination but always worth it. Difficulty can be a speed bump or an excruciating cliff-drop. One person’s speed bump can be someone else’s impossibly cliff – and yet another someone’s impossible dream.
 
To those who think life is impossible, this column is for you:
 
 
Stay shelled.
 
Be conservative.
 
Don’t accept risk.
 
Stay alert, fellow turtles.
 
Every turtle must stick its neck out to get anywhere.
 
So, be clear where you’re headed or led. Somewhere fun, I hope, somewhere happy – on a plane, beach, or mountain top.
 
Or are you considering some last resort?
 
I speak to those who’ve mislaid their hope, whose grip on their last strand is stretched beyond tenuous – go ahead, let go – if you don’t want to live.
 
Nobody can make you want your life.
 
If you don’t want to try something scary, nobody can force you.
 
And, to those who are confidently healthy, forceful, unyielding, and stable – you CAN help those who’ve lost their way …
 
But before we invest time, saving others, we have to protect ourselves.
 
That sounds cowardly, but rather, it’s heroic.
 
As instructions on every flight warn, “put your own mask on first – then attend to others.”
 
Everyday life needs to be like that.
 
It seems simple enough when we have children; they need so much from us. We need to be strong, present and need to be well – physically and emotionally. We get older, our accountability to others, tenuous or no longer required, it seems less necessary we be ‘OK,’ we are less needed to be ‘strong ones.’
 
Nothing could be further from the truth. If life teaches nothing else, it should be: we have a choice to be valuable or useful to help others, to support some cause, or to do something which improves the human condition of at least one human.
 
Else we’re just taking up space, consuming resources needed by other turtles who soar.
 
 
*when turtles fly
 
p.s.: today is ‘world introvert day’, which might easily be described as ‘everybody day’, because we are all introverts, ever envious of extroverts, without realizing they are just introverts who fake it better than we do
 
 
Reader feedback:
 
PLEAS OF THE COMMON MALE
Re: “ May this be the best year of your life, or of mine.” - This is not an either/ or proposition, Mark; rather, I hope this will be the best year of your life, and of mine! Cheers!, RH, Calgary, AB

Happy New Year Mark, May your year be on of great health, much happiness and an abundance of prosperity. Oh, and stay safe, PT, Calgary, AB

Hi Mark, Wishing you all the best in this new year. Thanks for the musings, I really appreciate them! TA, Calgary, AB

 


 
sign up to get Musings free daily

 


 
 


sign up to get Musings free daily


Comments are always welcome - please contribute to the discussion.  Reply to: kolke@markkolke.com

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. This site is updated daily, each column is retained in the archive when the next day's column is loaded ...  


Copyright - all rights reserved - Mark Kolke, © 2003-2021