Friday, July 17, 2009

Home National Sports Business Lifestyles Religion Arts & Culture Pulse Spice Editorial letters Opinion Foodie Sportscope Real Talks Weekend Report PDF's Classifieds Contact About Us Archive Weather

The pebbles in my shoes It is not the mountain that is before me that is stopping me, it's the pebble in my shoes that hurts when I climb. The heights that we want to climb are sometimes hindered by the little issues of life. So often we feel like giants as we face major challenges that arise and threaten to block our progress. We become resolute and determined to conquer persons or circumstances that will categorize us as being chickens because we appear to be failing to soar like eagles. Often we fight the big issues, but crumble when the little foxes nibble at our vines of ambitions. There is jubilance and excitement when we retrace some of our issues to the seemingly impossible situations of life. The doors that were opened that we could not see, the springs of water in the wilderness of frustration, doubt, discouragement and fear. When only dark clouds of disappointment, death and hopelessness shadow our path, sunshine dispells the gloom. We feel that kindness favored us and we move on in optimism, strong enough to break the strongholds of anything designed to shatter our commitment and our bravery. We often find that pebbles capture our attention with unbearable negative emotions that reduce the status of our giant-like nature to feeble, weak and compromising positions. The pebbles in our path soon take on mountainous postures that we cannot go over or around because we have limited our possibilities and the intrinsic strength and tolerance to overcome. We cannot afford to lessen our values because of the pebbles in our shoes. We should not become earthly when we know that beyond the skies is our limit. Pebbles in our shoes are not heavy enough to make our flight to greatness impossible. Undoubtedly, they may slow us down a bit, for we must stop to check and analyze their nature, determine who or what created them, and how we can cast them out before blisters set in and begin to irritate. The only way that we can become proficient in mastering our pebbles is to practice endurance and techniques. These factors will make us conscious that they are there to make us so uncomfortable that we will cast them out with our determination, commitment and resolution to aspire for excellence. We must strive to get to the at the top of the ladder, for we cannot fall or fail. Our lives do not have to reflect the weird phenomenon that Ben Lucien Burman recalled about the "Death Valley." "I saw an ominous black cloud in the distant sky. Long streaks of rain streaked down against the horizon. " He hurried not wanting to get caught in the anticipated flood. To his amazement, no water fell. The air was so dry and hot that the rain evaporated before hitting the ground. Many weary travelers looked with anticipation and thankfulness for the clouds that they thought would bring them rain. Their hopes were dashed by the dry rain storms that passed over without spilling that special and precious liquid on the thirsty earth. The philosophies of our lives must remain alive and not succumb to frustration and die because it did not rain for us. The pebbles in our shoes must not imitate nature's strange occurrence of bringing us clouds without rain because they are tossed with the wind. Small flames can begin big fires. Water and fire can be man's greatest friend or enemy. Pebbles undoubtedly can cause great loss of your dreams and aspirations, or they can become stepping stones for success. Therefore, we cannot outlaw pebbles, for they have their functions and significance in the realities of life. We are the product of our thinking. Many things are created twice. They are firstly a mental creation or idea, then we put them in action or in practical, physical realities. We must be able to stand alone in the midst of people's interpretation, anticipation or purpose for our mountain climbing. We must not fear the pebbles that people put in our ways that are intended to play against or minimize consistency of our unflinching determination. Pansy Hamilton Brown can be reached at P.O. Box N-10152 Nassau, Bahamas, or pansyhamb@hotmail.com. Wednesday, July 1, 2009