'It's time to share my final message for the year and close out 2012, The Year of Courage,' I mused.But what is the right message? I want to share something that isn't trivial or covered in sugary stickiness, or tangled with ribbons and bows, and reeking of pine cones and hot glue...Then I found it.
As I changed my gait to account for the small grade that leads up to a bridge, I looked up to see a barren tree. Well, almost barren. One, lone, tiny red leaf was clinging bravely to the lowest branch like the last drip of sap on a weary maple. Although I hated to slow my pace (heart rate is key to calorie burning you know...) I came to a stop and thought about the strength this little guy demonstrated. It would have been fine for him to fall below and become entangled in the pine straw with so many other autumn carcasses. No one would have blamed him. He would have had company, he would have been relaxed, he would have followed nature's lead! But he wasn't like all the rest.
I thought about how, when we are the strongest, or display the MOST COURAGE, we may end up standing alone in our resolve and perhaps that is what makes finding our courage so hard -- because we know we will most likely be going it alone. Without friends or allies flanking our quivering bodies, without armor to withstand the first arrow as it silently pierces us, even without someone in front or behind to lead or follow, we find ourselves having to rely solely on our intuition, experience or even just a sense of right and wrong. Those are our only companions...
But wait. If we have intuition, experience and a sense of what to do, are we not in the best company of all? Are we not sharing, or connected to, or combined and humming with all the energy, light, wisdom and power of the entire sum of our universe? And that little leaf, even though he was alone, he was still connected to the majesty of that tree, and he borrowed, I surmise, it's wisdom and experience. It must have reached down into the deep roots, pulling in through the soil the majesty of the entire earth. And with tips curled and still supple, it then called on the sky, and the water in the air, to hold it up and teach it...teach it for just a little while longer...before it would eventually know that it was HIS time to leave.
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When you join us this December 13th, for Cake and Champagne, think about this final ode to COURAGE. That even though you may find yourself alone in your resolve, you still have access to all the power of everything around you. And if you're lucky, the hand of a friend -- which we will gladly supply for you...
Thank you for following us for another year -- stay tuned for 2013, and we will see you the 13th!!
