Wisdom Has Callused Feet

The Mag #302

The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life. ~Muhammad Ali

If I could go back in time and look at my wedding through my divorced eyes what would I see? Would it be disappointment or a waist of time?

A bouquet of regrets held by a fool in white?

If I could go back to my childhood roots and see myself skipping through eyes with now slow shoes what would I see?  Would it be awkward steps that lead to the wrong road? A journey of ignorance or a blind traveler that still rushes to the unknown?

Truth is I just can't go back.  There are no time travelers and no magic rabbits in hats.

This life I have been living is a course that must be  hardily explored to advance.

For wisdom is a raw experience that requires exertion to truly understand.








When I look back over my life I realize that there is no way that I could know then what I know now.  Even if I could travel in time and give my self a million warnings, and believe me I needed a million of them, it just would not be the same.  I am who I am today because of all the troubles and the many blessings combined.   They have all played a part in molding me into the person I have become; a person full of compassion, hope, love, tolerance, a little bit of wisdom, with hands that know how to let go of regrets, and a few calluses to prove it. :-)

A Fool and a Cigarette

image by R.A.D. Stainforth

The Mag #149

"I tell you the past is a bucket of ashes."

 ~Carl Sandburg, "Prairie," Complete Poems, 1950

When we are 16 we smoke all our tomorrows

like cheap cigarettes and strawberry hill wine

at an endless hangout at the corner store...

yet when we are old we smoke all our yesterdays

like one fine cigar and rare expensive wine

at a place we wish we had gone and can no longer afford.

"Life can only be understood backward, but it must be lived forward." ~Soren Kierkegaard

Wishing Tess and everyone at The Mag a wonderful and Happy New Year!

The Horizon,

"Time is the longest distance between two places."  ~Tennessee Williams

When I was growing up, I spent many season at my Grandparent's home.  It was a place of comfort, and a place that held some of the most treasured memories of my childhood.  Each room echoed of wonder and was a big adventure that filled my days. 

As time passed my visits became less frequent with the busyness that life provides as we get older.  Growing up has it's rewards and it's losses.  Years later after my Grandparents had passed away, I returned once again to that familiar place to my heart.  Walking into it's threshold I was amazed at how much different things appeared.  What once seemed so big, now looked so much smaller in my eyes.  The home was still near and dear to me, but my perception of it's size had completely changed.  It was a place that I learned so many lessons about life, love, and wisdom.  Grandparents hold a wealth of knowledge and history that they gladly share with those they love.  What they had given me was greater than could be measured by this world.   My horizons were broadened more within those walls, than any other home that I lived in growing up.  What I learned I have carried with me like a suitecase on a journey to other lands.  It has always been within my arms, but time has changed my strength to hold it close.  Experience has a way of changing how we view the world.  The big picture becomes more clear.   I think this can be true in so many areas of our lives. The more life we live, the more we fall and get back up, the better we are at dealing with troubles we may face along the way.  It is a hopeful journey.  One that grows bigger with insight and substance as we move forward.  No matter how big problems can seem in our past, there is a future of hope that can make those trials appear smaller.  Sometimes being in the midst of the storm can make it hard to see clearly.  Once we have the quiet to reflect and look back, we can see with clarity that in the big picture those huge problems were just a small stumbling block along the way.  Just something to prepare us not just for today, but for tomorrow as well. 

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