Slips, Steps, Stumbles and Leaps

Some believe that life is a planned adventure while others believe that life is controlled by destiny. From my point of view, life is a series of slips, steps, stumbles and leaps some of which we do not control, some of which we have limited control, some of which we truly control, and none of which are based on destiny.

We slip from the womb in which we grew through a portal emerging into this world. We do not choose any of our characteristics or the qualities of our world. We may be loved or deprived of love, we may have health or lack health, we may be surrounded by wealth or by poverty, we may be surrounded by intelligence or by ignorance, we may have or not have so much. In the end, we start where we start and from there, each of us must continue on the path of life.

We take our steps sometimes without thinking about our destination and goals, and sometimes with a view to the horizon. In either event, the path is ever changing as each movement allows a new perspective and reveals the breadth of the path and its branches. Along the path, we are certain to stumble and perhaps fall. The stumble (which tends not to be a single, isolated event) may or may not have been outside of our control, but what happens next is for us to decide. The keys are in how we right ourselves, what we learn from the stumble, and how we modify our path and steps in light of the new view that exists when we scan the new horizon.

There are times when we are in the position to do more than step (and certainly more than slip and stumble) and have the opportunity to leap. The result of such leaps will vary from winged flight to plummeting falls, from success to failure but there will be substantial movement. In the end, the path will have changed and the steps will continue.

And so goes the movement along the path of life until we once again slip into a world that we do not know. So while we move. let us do so with confidence and the enjoyment of life.