Frogs/blog, ghost/writer; perspective: yipes!

Signs and symbols; now you see them, now you don't. Some would say they're always there; others simply don't notice, or insist they see nothing. Both points of view are true, in the 'eye of the beholder'; it's all relative.

I must confess this entry was composed on its designated day, automatically saved as a draft, accessed to post and when the check-box was assigned to publish only two lines 'survived'. No copy of the draft was saved to post the full text, which was lost somewhere in the process. I had been pleased with what had been created, mourned its loss, began again later, joking with one nearby that if it were the worst thing in life at that moment, it was 'okay'. Now to the re-creation, not to be the same:

My favorite mentor re-told a story that included two frogs recently, about others' misinterpreting responses to circumstances as one viewpoint: a particular reaction brings on a different result, depending upon the motivations of those directly affected. The same could be said for many things; the analogy in the story was results being 'rewarded', though not in the way that had been envisioned by one participant. In order to meet someone 'where they are', it can help to know what their 'where' is, to them. Sometimes, this can only be discovered in hindsight.

So what's the lesson? The 'golden rule' has been re-illustrated as what 'others' would want. What makes for challenges is not only do we not know what they want, neither do they, more often than not. It's for all practical purposes simple to treat others as we would wish or expect to be treated; the truth is that 'others' are not us. Sometimes, even the best 'people skills' do not apply. Just like animals, different species have different needs, though it's usually much easier to understand the needs of species other than humans.

So that part's covered, not much like the first time, though we accept with gratitude the 'now'.

As for the latter, there are those that are called 'kindred spirits' for whom we can finish sentences across continents, or lifetimes, where the Golden Rule is predictable, and equally gratifying. We know our efforts have not gone in vain; many would say no effort is lost. We are simply unaware of the results or outcome.

This is not for me; sometimes, as has happened many times in the past, as satisfying as it can be to be 'validated', the real meaning or result is what has occurred through others, because we chose to 'be there', to show they were important, to let them know their strength was unique in guiding others to recognize their own gifts and act on them. Many times the effort was very small; the blessing was the arrangement of place and time to allow for another 'everyday miracle' to occur. The most priceless has been when such moments occur with children, when one moment in time is remembered for a lifetime, shaping purpose and destiny.

The opposite can also be true. We are taught that to appreciate joy we must understand pain, that without contrast there is nothing to compare to. Is this the circle of life? We can still experience 'pain' and 'suffering' without the 'unspeakable', without atrocities, without the destruction of our own. They are all ours. For every tear that's shed, there could have been fewer. Those who survive have been grateful for the experience; others have erased the memory from their consciousness, thought not without consequence. Still others go on only a spirit shadow of what might have been, the candle all but extinguished.

We cannot help what we can't see, or can we? Those who may need us most are not even visible. They live in fear, unable to think beyond getting through the day. Our 'luxury of thought' is for what they cannot entertain beyond hunger and shelter. In contrast, we have unlimited wealth, enough abundance for all. Through communication and collaboration we can construct and extend the ropes to hope and the possibility of freedom, as the latter must be their own thought. It can be facilitated by others, though only claimed by those who choose to, once provided with the tools, as easily passed on as the lighting of one candle to another, undiminished by having done so.

I only remember the ending of what was 'lost' as something like 'the path you walk upon is there from who was before you, for you'.