The Road Less Traveled...On Any Day

For whatever reasons, Spring and Fall seem to be the seasons I enjoy most. My senses are move alive; I am more thoughtful about the littlest of things; I am the busiest; I look inward more methodically as to prepare for "something." 2010 will likely be no exception.

Early this morning, a friend discussed "the high road" with me. Of the many things I did today, one was participating in Elijah's school's annual Earth Day Celebration. The idea is bringing a "community" together to make a difference in a short period of time...we worked on the external environment of the school, beautifying, making safe, etc. Like last year, I focused on two activities that were therapeutic (and most others didn't seem to have an interest in doing): weeding and shoveling. The two activities were so symbolic for me and my mental state. Similarly, they tied back to the idea of "taking the high road."

What does it mean to travel this road..."the high road?" Whatever your destination and whomever you are traveling with, how easy is it to not be petty; or only consider your potentially narrow, personal interests? On your journey, are you able to look at the larger picture and do what's right, even when it doesn't appear to benefit you individually and/or personally? This road may be laden with honor, ethics, truth, respect, and more. You may not always have a traveling companion on "the high road."

Right now, now-a-days, I am REALLY trying to take "the high road." It is clearly the road less traveled. And I don't feel like I have a traveling companion either. I am not trying to have a pity party. There are so many roads, detours, curves, hills, pot holes, highways, and more to travel down on any given day. I know nothing in life is static. All living things grow and change.

As I actively celebrated Earth Day with strangers today, I was reminded (just like the seasons) various personal relationships become strained and may undergo mysterious seasons of estrangement. Relationships may alter and grow; or, fall fallow and rest quietly until the season comes for "it" to bloom again. I don't expect that all my personal relationships will always be easy. I want my loved ones to have the unconditional freedom to grow, to change, and to challenge me by their altered behaviors and views.

Where I struggle... in all honesty... where I take it personal (despite the logic in me saying, "I respect their needs - even if includes distance and self containment.") is when behaviors and actions feel petty, disrespectful, and the like. Can I take "the high road" when I feel like someone I care about is being petty with me? Disrespectful to me? Selfish? And even more so...not the "what" they might be doing, but the method, or the "how" they may be demonstrating such behavior.

I am packing my bags. So, here I go down the infamous "high road" both personally and professionally. ALL of my relationships are organic and evolutionary. Relationships are catalytic and transformative in multiple dimensions - good and bad...yet never static. So, cautiously, I travel down the road on my journey, weeding to ensure growth, shoveling crap out of my path if needed, mindful that intersections spark new growth (even if I feel a few growing pains).

The right to change, is a blessing we each have...

Thanks for reading today's randomness.

~Kelley