“I finally got it all together
and then I forgot where I put it.”
~ approximately accurate quote – I forget who said it

Have you ever felt that way? Sometimes I feel as if figuring it all out is about all I’ve done for most of my adult life, and maybe for some my pre-adult years too. I watched to a Ted Talk recently where the presenter said; sure the unexamined life is not worth living, but if all you’re doing is examining, you’re not living.

Last weekend I was cleaning the basement, and I found some stuff that has been stowed away since we moved nearly eight years ago. In one of the boxes was a binder with poetry and short stories I’d written while I was in university and one particular journal that had survived my spontaneous purging fires.

It was a blast from the past – a close-up look into my inner world back then. It was also an eye-opener.

I have to say that after all these years and especially after nearly three years here on the porch with you discussing every life issue imaginable; I need to accept that I am who I am. I can do much to try to change myself, but I may as well stand on my head and spit nickels as continue in that pursuit; it’s just not going to happen.

In a way, it’s a relief. I’ll never have it all figured out. (The Type A in me just said, “Ha! Nailed that one!”)

But is it really about figuring out life, or is it about deciding on your response to it? It seems to me that we attract the world that reflects who we are, and if that’s the case, we need to play with that – to get to know and fall in love with ourselves – where we are as we are.

Days after I wrote the first draft of this post, the questions I posed as I read that poetry sparked a movement within me. You know how it is – you give up and then things change. Just when I get it all figured out something happens to challenge that. What an adventure; I’ll never have it all figured out!

Have you, too, tried to figure out this thing called life? Have you found answers only to learn that they were wrong and only led to more questions? Have you got it all figured out?

Photo credit: David Restivo