Downtime

My dog Wing and I during 'downtime' kayaking on lake near Mt. Shasta, California.

(photo by Raven Stevens)

Downtime

2/15/11

We all need a break

from the 'catch if you can'

world of striving for accomplishment,

or when living becomes mundane,

gray, lifeless, while bone tired

of continued struggle onward, upward

if luckily on positive trajectory,

still very often hard work

to wake up and have at it again,

biding time for brighter day

when foreboding skies will clear,

make way for sunny new outlook,

most people know this pendulum

swinging us through moods, emotions,

where each extreme magnifies the other,

feeling really bad enhances future good,

and visa versa in comparison,

knowing joy amplifies intolerable sadness,

yet each reminds of transient

'This too shall pass.', eventually,

bringing gift of full emotional palette

helping us experience our Existence

as a wonderfully unpredictable adventure,

often times not really comprehended

until loss, or some great turning,

gives us pause to embrace downtime.