When all else fails. The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.

“When things go wrong as they sometimes will.

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns.

And many a failure turns about,

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow—

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,

It seems to a faint and faltering man,

Often the struggler has given up,

When he might have captured the victor’s cup,

And he learned too late when the night slipped down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out—

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far,

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit—

It’s when things seems worse that you must not quit.

Edgar Guest.

So. Stick. To. The. Fight. When. You’re.Hardest.Hit.

We have all been there.

Somewhere.

Sometimes.

With.

Someone.

There is a someone, who tested and tests our mettle beyond measure.

Beyond what we think we are capable of.

Or.

Not capable of.

Is there the where that is better than here?

Somewhere.

Is it weakness? Is weakness the spoonful sugar that helps the medicine go down?

Sometimes.

Is he or she or him or her or it or they the answer to be noticed? To being,

Someone.

When you know.

When you find out.

Please let me know.

Sometimes I feel the permanent place of destruction is constant and relenting wonderment.

I am all for discover, yes. But the constant-ness of the anger is starting to get to me—- the state of affairs. The constant affairs. Are weighing heavily on my mind in a haze of dust that keeps swirling before me, clouding my good judgment. I blow. It seems there are plenty of players,

PLENTY,

of players around. But. It appears to me that they are just standing around.

Looking good, but not really doing anything of productiveness.

I am tired.

You are tired.

We all are tired.

That is no excuse. Yet. It seems,

We are all retiring into the abyss.

Into the abyss of thinking we earned our right to tell another what to do.

How to act.

How to be:

Free to be. You and me.

‘Cept society seems to be influenced by the influential influencers who have it too easy. Fly from here to there while telling us we need to pay more for the gas to get them where THEY want to go. So. They can influence even more while we watch in envious envy. While we remain grounded in the frustratingly constant pictures of their beauty.

And.

Our.

Ugliness.

I dunno.

Who makes the decisions around here anyway?

Every time I try.

It seems to be met with another roadblock of someone else’s wanting, someone else’s misgiving, someone’s else’s lack of effort, someone elses’s images of life.

Retirement.

Fill in the blank:

There is only so much ___________to go around.

CAUTION: Be careful. Your answer will tell us a lot about how you think…..

That may be good.That may be bad. At least is it something though. Right?

I dunno.

To round out our four square of: Somewhere. Sometimes. Someone. Something.

Is this what doubt looks like? Feels like?Sounds like? Tastes like? Smells like? Looks like?

I am beginning to think nobody-NOBODY- wants to step up and answer the questions. The hard questions of today. Yesterday is gone, indeed.

We all talk a lot about “moving on.” Yet the fines and the crimes and punitive consequences keep us tethered to a past that is destined to repeat itself.

We are all guilty.

Of wronging.

Somewhere.

Sometimes.

Someone.

Something.

STOP. Pointing the finger for your gain. At your loss.

We have all been somewhere.

With the unpleasantness of a moment in time that changed forever who we are.

Reaching out to another is the reach out we need. The cost may be high though.

Stepping up to show our faults and failings: Priceless.

Then. Maybe. Just maybe, the tide can change and we will no longer all remain stuck in our own self-righteousness.

Opportunity knocks.

In order to answer, the excuses must not be the foundation of the future we all expect to live amongst one another in.

We are all so busy“retiring.”

What exactly are we retiring?

The car.

The bicycle.

The proof we were hard workers and it is time to skate off into the sunset—somewhere, sometimes, someone, something.

Our emotions are the gatekeeper to the next step of a life well lived,

Or not.

Sooner or later.

Get a grip.

We are all guilty.

Of not getting one.

A grip.

Who we invite into our cycle of circles is who will help us to the next step. This becomes and is the testimony and the testament of our lives. Our new day.

Our new song.

Change is possible.

But we must,

MUST

Stop kidding ourselves.

Not one of us does not have a story to tell.

To race to the top of the worst of the worse gets nobody nowhere—-fast.

To think we are “owed” anything good or bad is kidding ourselves right into the oblivion we hope to have retired from.

How is that working for you? (lk)

There are many good people full of wisdom and guidance waiting for you to sit down with them.

How do you find them?

Good question.

They listen.

They discern.

They take a chance.

On you.

A real chance.

A you-feel-at-the-bottom-of -the-barrel-chance

On you.

And.

By

God’s

Grace

Alone

These wise and wondrous persons Lift you up.

Yes.

Lift you up.

Out the the clouds of your own self doubt.

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.

The silver tint of YOUR clouds of doubt.

Get you thinking again.

’Bout what goodness really, really, really is.

That we are all capable of extending it with a dash of kindness to another.

And go from there.

And. If the best we can do on some days is simply

Somewhere.

Sometimes.

With

Someone

Something.

So be it.

At least it is a start.

His mercies are new every day.

He gives them to us generously, without a receipt, without any doubt.

God knows our hearts.

He simply asks in return for our responsible souls of real-ness and

change.

”Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit!”