Learning what I thought I knew

  The bunny footprints in the snow were perfectly formed.  In my mind's eye, I could picture the little rabbit pausing by the path to listen closely to the forest's sounds.  Or maybe he paused as I had to simply soak in the winter scene (okay, someone can smack me now for the over personification of the poor rabbit.) :)  Either way the prints were delicate, perfect and..... fleeting.   My dog ran through them thirty seconds later
and I started to cry.

 I cried on my knees,
by myself,
in the snow,
in the middle of nowhere
because I learned things this week that I thought I already knew.  Things like the constancy of change, the temporary nature of all things physical, and just how deep love can go.   I have known all these things in my brain for a very long time but now I know them in every cell.  Would I go back and unlearn them if I could? Absolutely.  But my lens has been shifted and in that moment on frosty knees I decided to make the most of this new perspective.

 
I stood up and looked at the mess that only moments before had been the four pretty little prints.

Good Lord, life is messy! ( It is also delicate and beautiful the forest echoed back.)
Good Lord, life is messy.   (It is also full of love whispered the pines.)

The snow bore signs of my struggle and I wondered what the next hiker would think coming upon the scene.

Then I smiled, because like the bunny prints, the remains of my struggle would eventually melt away. The lessons however will not.

Who would have thought that in the end, the everyday miracle would be that every day is a miracle?
I plan to live accordingly and because I care for each of you. I hope you do too.