The Fear of Falling

TODAY'S QUOTE:
Never be afraid to fall apart because it is an opportunity to rebuild yourself the way you wish you had been all along... Unknown

I'm of the opinion that we're all fractured in one fashion or another. Some of us suffer more damage, some of us less. Some of us are burdened by pressure from others. Some of us borrow trouble, or hoard misfortunes as an excuse to blamelessly fail. Staying broken seems easier than doing any repair work, since once mending has begun we take full ownership of the finished product.

Why we're broken matters... who broke us is important too... but the only facts vital to our recovery are, determination to patch our own weaknesses, and reinforce our strengths. Blame leaves us without the tools needed for a lasting restoration.  It guarantees that all the power remains with whomever or whatever created the havoc in the first place. What happens to us has some influence, but how we choose to react is of much greater importance. We can either mar or mend. That choice always belongs to us alone.   

The patterns left behind by mistakes made and heartaches paid are as unique as snowflakes. Some cracks go deep, while others just spider here and there. The cracks weakening the center, yet smooth to the touch remind me of old china. One solid tap and the saucer is filled with nothing large enough to glue together. Struggling to put it back as was is useless. We see this in a negative light at first glance. But a shattered person can be reshaped and renewed in ways that are almost magical.

If my house burnt to the ground I wouldn't reconstruct it brick-by-brick into the same pattern it has now. I'd rebuild it into a perfect dwelling that would ease my soul in every corner. Life is like that fierce fire sometimes, almost consuming but not quite erasing who we are. I have scars, but I don't build monuments to them. I've been knocked to pieces by others and fallen apart all on my own. I'm fractured and flawed.

And the building and rebuilding and rebuilding goes on and on and endlessly on. When I lay in pieces, I know that when I'm whole again I'll be different somehow. How different and different how is totally up to me. I'm alive and the choice is mine... I can be content to simply survive... or I can throw caution to the wind and dare to thrive. I miss you Jerry Lee... I know how you'd HATE me to settle for survival... once loved never forgotten!