Having just survived a hospital stay, what I remember most is all the time I had to think--between pokes and prods, blood pressure checks and meds. Sometimes thinking is productive and sometimes it's not. I once heard a lecture about how we rub elbows with each other every day, and the results of this action.
The Mississippi River, which is more than a mile wide at St. Louis, begins way up north in Minnesota as a creek you can straddle. It slashes and lashes its way through the center of our nation, down hundreds and hundreds of miles to the Gulf of Mexico.
If a radio active isotope were dropped into the water up in Minnesota , that isotope would alter the entire river all the way down to the ocean. It would affect the entire ecosystem--fish, plants, wildlife that feeds/drinks from the river, and vegetation along the river banks--everything down to the color of the water and the texture of everything it touches, including genes. Amazing!
Think for a minute of humanity as that river. Imagine, if you will, all of us as individual isotopes floating down this river of life, rubbing elbows with each other, butting heads occasionally and extending a helping hand to others. Everyone with whom we come in contact during the course of the day, from the greeter at Walmart to the teenager behind the counter at Dairy Queen, has an affect on us, and we on them. Together, as we impact each other's lives, we shape the river of the life of humanity.
Allof us react differently to life's tragedies and triumphs, to "rubbing experiences," but we do react. How we react is the fascinating thing. I find this grist for my writing mill. The possibilities are endless. Often we find ourselves in the heroine or the villain. Hmmmm...that can be either productive or nonproductive, depending on your perspective. Scary!
The subject was responsible for speculation during many hours of waiting in that hospital bed. My conclusions will undoubtedly find their way into a book sooner or later. Interesting -- what do you think? Let me know at booksbymarilyn.com. I'll be interested in your perspective.
Marilyn
booksbymarilyn.com
The Mississippi River, which is more than a mile wide at St. Louis, begins way up north in Minnesota as a creek you can straddle. It slashes and lashes its way through the center of our nation, down hundreds and hundreds of miles to the Gulf of Mexico.
If a radio active isotope were dropped into the water up in Minnesota , that isotope would alter the entire river all the way down to the ocean. It would affect the entire ecosystem--fish, plants, wildlife that feeds/drinks from the river, and vegetation along the river banks--everything down to the color of the water and the texture of everything it touches, including genes. Amazing!
Think for a minute of humanity as that river. Imagine, if you will, all of us as individual isotopes floating down this river of life, rubbing elbows with each other, butting heads occasionally and extending a helping hand to others. Everyone with whom we come in contact during the course of the day, from the greeter at Walmart to the teenager behind the counter at Dairy Queen, has an affect on us, and we on them. Together, as we impact each other's lives, we shape the river of the life of humanity.
Allof us react differently to life's tragedies and triumphs, to "rubbing experiences," but we do react. How we react is the fascinating thing. I find this grist for my writing mill. The possibilities are endless. Often we find ourselves in the heroine or the villain. Hmmmm...that can be either productive or nonproductive, depending on your perspective. Scary!
The subject was responsible for speculation during many hours of waiting in that hospital bed. My conclusions will undoubtedly find their way into a book sooner or later. Interesting -- what do you think? Let me know at booksbymarilyn.com. I'll be interested in your perspective.
Marilyn
booksbymarilyn.com