A real attention getter!

Okay, so you are cruising along, pedal-to-the-metal, doing your thing. You are free; no one can tell you what to do, as you are immortal. Restraints-be-damned as you are impervious to the frailties of your human brethren. *Tap, tap.*

Live hard! Ride free! Heck, burn the candle at both ends as who cares about tomorrow? Once more shot, an hour less sleep, spend that dollar; no worries for you. Life is good and we will worry about the consequences of today when they arrive. *TAP, TAP!*

I am different. The stuff that gets other people can’t get me. My story is different. I mean, I learn by their mistakes. I watch others fall, so I will not stumble over their obstacles. I deserve this, and I go for what I want. Let others get their own, but I gotta look out for number one right? No guts, no glo...BAM! POW! KA-BOOM!

God gets our attention.

I remember thinking this way when I was young and made of armor. A ten-foot-tall Green Beret who was bullet proof, that was me. Young and careless was the more honest description of my mental state.

However as I grew, I thought my age, and perceived maturity made me wiser. I was more in control. I thought that my wisdom offered me license to follow my instincts; my self-will mind you. I felt since I was not running with reckless abandon as I did in my youth, that “living for the moment”, was the same as “living in the now.” Indeed I was wrong.

Although we cannot control much of what occurs around us. We also cannot manipulate some of the blessings as well as catastrophes the universe bestows upon us. Yet we can surely manage ourselves and place us in a position to where the results of our choices align to smooth our path forward.

I have found that when I feel too much in charge, or perhaps the opposite of being completely untethered to the universe, I will start to receive subtle little “taps” on the shoulder to give me the opportunity to readjust my thinking. It is these times to where I need to check my compass and look for the lighthouse to keep me off the rocks. What keeps you free from the reef?

What is it in us that detaches us from our rational thought, from our intuition that something isn’t right, from the stuff our parents warned us about? Where do we choose to say, “The heck with health, security, love, self-respect, and trust”, and choose a “damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead” attitude? Often it is full steam into a wall.

From the person on a diet, who chooses the Reese’s Cups by the handful, to the person in a relationship who chooses infidelity, to the person suffering financial burden, who chooses another swipe of the credit card; what is it that allows us to justify the ends with the means?

Sometimes we need that “tap” on the shoulder. If we ignore it, it gets more aggressive. Finally it comes like the swing of a two by four upon the side of our head. (It doesn't hurt so much here, or here, but riiiight here.) Our attention will be gotten. The degree, duration and severity of the circumstances are up to us.

We must however remember that all this comes neatly packaged in a lesson. The wise pupil should spend little time revisiting the same chapter. Sadly at times, we must fall and fall hard to get the enduring depth of our lessons.

Sometimes even the saints falter. At times, God will have to clip the wings of an angel to keep them grounded. Sometimes we need to be reminded that even though there is a lifeguard on duty, it is up to us to know our comfortable depths in which we swim, and to prepare ourselves with skills. If not, we take the risk of drowning, and hopefully our guard is not distracted when we sink below the surface for a time.

Recently I, as well as a handful of others, have been served up our share of challenges; some to a degree to where they perhaps ignored the first few taps. Although it is not mine to judge the severity of the lessons presented, I have been blessed with a reminder. I am not in control, yet I can assist in managing my outcomes. I can seek insight and wisdom from a place other than what is in my head. I try to digest the lessons I experience directly and those I see happening to others, so I may learn from the examples. I listen to the “taps.” I hope you will too.

My final prayer to God for today to end this post: “As you see fit, please replace the feathers upon my friend’s broken wings.”

Soar high and safe my friends!