Awareness of strength
an excerpt from Live Beautifully: A Book to Sit With, by Doris Wedige
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Reflections on strength...
I remember an early spring day. I had gone on a walk outdoors. I was intrigued by the effects of the long cold Wisconsin winter season. The paved road that passes in front of our house was pocked with potholes and up heaved in long lengths down its center. It had not fared well against the effects of the elements. I turned off the road and as I emerged from an opening of trees, I was captivated by the beauty of the tall grasses that danced in the wind before me. They were bending and swaying amidst the powerful forces of the brisk wind. How had they survived the same harsh winter that crumbled the pavement of the road? These simple shafts of prairie grasses, so seemingly fragile, lived a life of beauty and grace amidst so much turmoil. It leads me to ponder my concept of strength. Is there more strength in the rigidness of the concrete or is there more strength in the flexibility of a shaft of grass? I saw myself reflected in these elements. Like the road I tried to stand strong against the harshness of life. Despite my mental strength, just like the road, I crumbled. My body has been wrought with pain; my back is out of alignment. It has buckled just like the road. I want to be like the beautiful grasses. Flowing with what is. No resisting. No attempt to stand strong against life’s harshness. Just being with what is. Moving with what is. Living with powerful nonresistance. “Live Beautifully” has new meaning for me. Live Beautifully means to have the strength to lovingly flow with what is. |
I intend to have the strength to accept things as they are.
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