Just a Puddle

Just a Puddle

When you reach a puddle after a rainstorm-you have some choices- step through it, step around it, or turn around and go back home. Life is full of puddles- and we get to choose how to maneuver around them.

As kids, most of us were intrigued and delighted by puddles. We’d put on our rubber boots and run outdoors and splash away. If there was a puddle, we’d find it – we’d dive right in. There were very few boundaries to our enchantment with the earth and with life itself – exploring with every step and every ounce of our being. Such simple and wonderful joy. Somewhere along the way those vibrant inclinations are often softened by the complexities of life that seem to weaken some of that enchantment – while facing new expectations and realities of life. But the rain does continue to fall and puddles continue to form underfoot.

I begin to wonder when did resistance slip into those explorations? When did we figure out that puddles were to be stepped around rather than jumped into? Little by little, innocent enchantment was infiltrated by worry, concern, inhibition – when we finally grew out of those rubber boots and became more concerned about wet socks and getting to work on time.

Our puddles now are metaphorical -hurt, worry, division, illness, misunderstanding- and each day we have to decide how to get around them. And yes, some puddles are deeper and more threatening than others - some shallow, some persistent, some come and go. But each one, if taken its course, will eventually evaporate and return to the firmament. So, we step with care but maintain our balance .

So, we build our arsenal-construct our canopy- with resilience, forgiveness, strength, fortitude and a healthy dose of self-love. And we begin to realize that we can get through every puddle that comes our way- boots or no boots. Life’s storms may be all the resistance training we need.

How wonderful it would be to dance in the rain again-to splash and sing and maybe even take a long walk listening to the rhythm of the rain on our umbrellas. To reconnect with that youthful exuberance that escorted us through childhood. But puddle jumping? I’ll have to take a rain check.