welcome to my laboratory

You can run, but you can't hide from adversity. It will track you down and trip you up every chance it gets. Such is the way of life on this earth.

There have been many difficult periods in my life, but I have noticed that time is the equalizer for them all. Often, after some time goes by---hours maybe, or days, months and years---the "thing" that I thought that I simply could not deal with will change---one way or another, it will change.  I frequently remind myself of this: "If you don't like something, change it. If you cannot change it, change the way you think about it."

Perhaps then, there is the key. It's more the way that we "think" about it than the way that it really is. If every thought is still contentious and angry---stop thinking about it!

In the midst of difficult or trying situations, I try and remember the fruits of the Spirit...love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control.  If I cannot find a majority of these nine, then something is wrong with the way I am responding to the situation. With all the powerful combinations that I have available, surely I can mix up something great!

EXAMPLE: (lame, but available) When someone is dashing in and out of the already congested rush-hour traffic, and nearly runs me off the road, I still have options for my initial response. Some choices might be:

Yell at them: "You JERK!"  Wow, that was wildly satisfying---I'm sure they heard me! Oh, my blood pressure.
Continue the aggression:  Speed up and ride their bumper---that'll make them sorry! Oh, my blood pressure.
Ignore it: Keep driving as sanely as possible and sing out loud---Ahh, my blood pressure.

What's the difference? Pausing that split second to weigh it in the balance; will my next action provide a 2/3 majority?

With that thought in mind, I have decided to take-up the ancient science and philosophy of alchemy. Yep, that's my new goal; I want to practice being an alchemist.

I want to be the one who takes old metal from discarded objects and works with it until it changes into gold!

I want to examine it and adjust my formula until it becomes something valuable, irreplaceable! Yes, I want to be an alchemist along the journey of life.  Picking up the pieces and remixing the components until gold results from the effort.  If the challenge proves to be too great for the day, I want to have the wisdom to set the heap of junk on the shelf and come back to it another time, with a new approach to the solution. Alchemy...it's a beautiful word...a serious approach to turning rubbish into something valuable.

"When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful." ~Barbara Bloom

Mix your own potion with the powerful components found in the fruits and keep trying until you have the perfect formula for that "metal" and don't be too surprised that, when the smoke clears, you're looking at pure gold! Give it a try---maybe you were destined to be an alchemist, too!!!