Count your blessings
As I sat waiting at the traffic lights that seemed to take forever, I looked over to see who was waiting beside me and maybe give one of those 'could they take any longer?' looks. Instead I found myself smiling a silly smile and dreaming of a life perhaps lived. I don't know if you've ever played the 'whats happening in their life' game... It's where you sit, look at people, and guess just by how they look, how they act, who they're with - as to what's going on in their life. 99% of the time you'll never know if you're right, but it's still fun.
Beside me were what appeared to be an old, happy couple. They sat in a car, 1970s well polished, vintage - the kind of car that they've had with them for years, the kind of car that would carry a world of memories inside it, just as their minds would carry a world of emotional memories together and perhaps apart. They looked like they were dressed for dinner out with some friends, and now they were heading home, maybe the same home they've had since they bought the car.
Instead of looking over at me and rolling their eyes, they turned and looked at each other - the kind of look that grows over years with knowing, and they shared a little smile.
I've seen many beautiful things in my life, but that rates up there in the highest.
I spent the rest of the drive wishing that one day I would have a life like that couple seems to have, a life well lived and a life well loved... but wishes aren't made from just dreaming... and dreams aren't made over night. Belonging in that couple is both an unconscious and conscious decision, I like to think that it's one of those things that happens, rather than you're aware of. I look forward to the day that it just happens, and I'm not sure what I hope for more - that I'm so caught up in it that I don't notice, or that I'm entirely too aware of it that I spend every second counting my blessings. Maybe a healthy combination of both is in order.
I've got a lot of things to work on 'in the mean time...' until then, perhaps.
Beside me were what appeared to be an old, happy couple. They sat in a car, 1970s well polished, vintage - the kind of car that they've had with them for years, the kind of car that would carry a world of memories inside it, just as their minds would carry a world of emotional memories together and perhaps apart. They looked like they were dressed for dinner out with some friends, and now they were heading home, maybe the same home they've had since they bought the car.
Instead of looking over at me and rolling their eyes, they turned and looked at each other - the kind of look that grows over years with knowing, and they shared a little smile.
I've seen many beautiful things in my life, but that rates up there in the highest.
I spent the rest of the drive wishing that one day I would have a life like that couple seems to have, a life well lived and a life well loved... but wishes aren't made from just dreaming... and dreams aren't made over night. Belonging in that couple is both an unconscious and conscious decision, I like to think that it's one of those things that happens, rather than you're aware of. I look forward to the day that it just happens, and I'm not sure what I hope for more - that I'm so caught up in it that I don't notice, or that I'm entirely too aware of it that I spend every second counting my blessings. Maybe a healthy combination of both is in order.
I've got a lot of things to work on 'in the mean time...' until then, perhaps.