Getting to the Right Place

When I was a kid, one of my favorite outside games to play was hopscotch. The strategy wasn't necessarily in how well you hopped but what you used as your marker. In my quest for finding the perfect marker, the one where when it was thrown would land right where it was supposed to be - in the right place. The search would take me everywhere. I tried flat rocks, broken popsicle sticks, pencil erasers and even bottle caps but most of the time, what worked the best was a broken chain. It didn't even have to look good or feel right. The importance was how it landed.

Isn't that how life works? We reach for what feels familiar or head to a place where we know the coffee tastes good or where we feel at home, only to find that that isn't the right place for us to be. But it felt right, it smelled right, it tasted right, it looked right....how could it not be RIGHT? Because sometimes getting to the right place takes work. It takes having a spirit of never giving up or calling it quits. It takes laughing instead of crying. It means accepting that what comes easy for some may not come easy for others. I like to say it this way..."Your blues ain't like mine!" If we all landed in the right place at the right time, then it wouldn't be a challenge and the joy of winning wouldn't be worth trying for.

Sometimes we need a tag team to help us along. It's like playing Tag and you finally decide that you can't run anymore so you ask the Tagger to tag you just so that you can freeze and rest. Doesn't mean that you have arrived at the right place...yet...it just means that it may take a little while longer so rest is needed.

Catch your breath, refuel and don't quit. Whether you are writing a book and are tired of the rejection letters, trying so hard to eat right and exercise, looking for Mr. or Miss Right, waiting for the teen angst to pass, dealing with marital issues that have you feeling like you're hanging over the edge or dealing with financial problems that have you screaming and pulling out your hair....don't give up! The right place is on its way.

Trust me, I've been there.