Reflections of a Wandering Man

by Bob Skelding

Copyright 2009, by Bob Skelding, All Rights Reserved

The days of our lives unwind like horse drawn wagon travel down a country road.  We set ourselves down a straight stretch of pavement only to encounter the ups and downs of hills and hollows.  If our attention wanders, we momentarily cross the centerline or are jarred awake by bumps on the shoulder. Approaching a curve, we wonder what we’ll find around the bend; will it be a lovely green valley with a clear running brook, a bleak desert landscape or a vast sprawl of concrete and rusting steel?

The road we choose helps determine the sight we’ll see.  But the fulfillment felt at the end of the trip comes from how we perceive the journey, and the faces and feelings we have for those we have met in our travels.

Wispy white mist clinging low over a valley floor, a hawk gliding against a backdrop of billowy clouds moving across a deep blue sky, clouds cast in incredible hues of red and purple from a setting sun - all these views are visible against a backdrop of a green valley, a desert landscape or an urban sprawl. If you choose to see the concrete, you’ll feel the ache of pulling up every hill. If it’s sunset that fills your vision, the hills smooth out and become cracks in the pavement.  Perception becomes reality.

Interactions with others nourishes our soul. A journey down a road filled with warm handshakes, laughter, smiling faces and life’s stories is a journey of enrichment and warm memories.  A street filled with people passing by is an empty road. 

If you care for others and let them know you care, they will respond in kind.  Everyone has their own dreams, desires, experiences, pains and sorrows.  Try to look at things through their shoes and empathize with them. Take the initiative to approach and meet others along the way, don’t wait for them to make the first contact.  If no one is around to meet, hum a tune or sing a song, it’s soothing to the soul and the horses like it.

A life, like a journey in a horse drawn wagon can be as rich and fulfilling as you make it.  You can take more then one trip in a wagon, but you only get one chance at life.