A Conflicted World

No one ever said life would be easy, in fact, we learn very early on what the real world is like: A place full of conflict. I think back to first grade when the true meaning of conflict arose. There was a sense of urgency there.  Urgency to make friends. To be accepted. To be popular. No one wanted to be the odd man out. No one wanted to be the last person picked. No one wanted to be on the outside. But that was me- always on the outside looking in. Never a part of things called cliques, groups, or clubs. I was always watching. Waiting. Wanting. And then I grew up. We all do. We grow into a world that would love to swallow us whole. A world that strives on conflicts. A world that would rob us of simple joys, rather than granting a life of peace.

In this world, I don't claim to know a lot of things. In fact, I claim to know nothing; only living by what my hearts feels and sees. I see snow covered mountain tops from the aerial view of a plane, and my heart sores with a sense of freedom. I see a glorious sunrise illuminating darkened skies, and my heart feels pangs of hope. I see people's eyes: the windows to their hearts.  I know when pain resides there, I know when joy dances there, and my heart feels the weight of it all. And my heart also knows that when we leave a place we never really leave, because part of our being will always exist there.
   

When I see streams of sunlight filter through turbulent clouds of doubt and futility,  my heart tells me that this world of conflict will never be our home. That our heart fragments are scattered from the events of time, and eventually settle into piles of our life essences- essences that brings us to places of clarity and focus. We grasp onto small things- things that make our lives worth living: a newborn baby's cry, a joy-filled smile of a small child, the first kiss experienced in youth, and the moment you link your heart forever with someone else's. 

Yes, this world may be filled with conflict, but in our heart of hearts we know that we have no ownership of things of this world. We all cling to the belief that as long as we have love, we will never be alone. But love, in this world, is sometimes a fleeting thing and my truest sense of love will always be linked to a greater, spiritual reality. It will always be tied to a thing called hope and faith. Because, after all, that is all we really own while we are here.


Live Large and Be Free!