It was a chilly day today. It kind of signifies my outlook on life right now. The last week has been filled with unexpected trials and tribulations. I’ve also realized that I can handle life’s tragedies and setbacks. Although I don’t like these things I realize that they play a much more important part in defining my character than the times when I’m filled with abundant happiness and joy do.
When we encounter obstacles in the road we are presented with many different choices. Sometimes we let others make the choice for us. Other times we talk to people in order to help us, although we already know what we’re going to do. Then, in other times we don’t make a choice at all. We continue living day by day pretending that the problems or obstacles that we’ve encountered will disappear on their own. We all know it’s not possible, but inside we hold onto some tiny glimmer of hope that it will happen to us and everything will be ok.
Lately it seems that life has been passing so quickly that I can’t keep track of time. When I look at my watch it’s 5:30 am and it seems like seconds later it’s 11pm. I wish that I could slow time down, but I can’t. I have to go with the flow and make the most of the limited amount of time that I have on this earth.
During my time here I’ve always told people that I will consider my life a success if (when I’m gone) many people can say that I made a difference in their lives. It might be as simple as a kind word or gesture or even something like helping someone through a rough patch in their life. I don’t try to rescue people and I never will. I had a habit of doing that when I was a little younger. I learned my lesson and decided that I would give help when someone needed it, but I would not try to save them from any predicament they were in. When I did it many years ago it ended horribly for me. A person grew to dislike me and in the end saw me as being critical and demoralizing. It was sad for me to listen to and watch. It made me realize that sometimes we think that we’re helping and we actually make things worse. Now, I try to sit back, offer an opinion if asked and stay far enough way so I don’t make a mess of things. I’ve probably failed a few times, however I know that I’m doing much better than I did all those years ago.
I’ve recently been involved with some instructional training for children and archery. It has been extremely rewarding. There’s nothing better than seeing a child’s face light up when they did something that they didn’t think they could do. In the last few weeks I’ve seen some incredible improvement from all of the kids. All they needed was a little guidance and solid instruction in order to improve. It has been worth every minute of my time to see the smiles on all of their faces. The first week or two were really tough when we were trying to get them to shoot the correct way. A few of the children got frustrated right along with me and my friend Dave.
This week when they all improved their scores from the week before I felt a sense of accomplishment. I recalled all of the hours of practice I used to put in. I was self-taught and spent hours upon hours perfecting my trade. I became very good at what I did. I feel very fortunate to be able to share some of my experience with these children. If they get started on the right foot it will make their experience much more enjoyable. I hope that one day they’re able to look back on it and take something positive from the few Thursdays that they were able to shoot with me and Dave.
I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I’m headed out of town first thing in the morning. I haven’t had a day where I’ve been able to get out of town without anything else on my mind in a while. I’m going to go down to my old stomping grounds near where I went to college to tour the countryside. I expect it to be a great day with a good friend. I’m a little nervous about the weather. It’s supposed to rain like crazy tonight. Hopefully the creeks won’t swell over their banks and the caves won’t be filled with water. I guess I’ll have to wait for tomorrow to see what happens. On the other hand the rain will be good for my trip home. I plan on taking the back way and driving through Thacher Park, south of Albany. If we do get the rain the waterfall there will be absolutely magnificent which would be great to see. Viewing an awesome waterfall at the end of the day before I head home sounds pretty good to me.
I’m excited that spring has arrived. We’ve had a few pleasant days, although the cold temperatures are still hanging around. Most of the snow is finally gone. When it started to go it went quickly.
I’m hoping that my smile tomorrow matches some of the smiles on the children at archery on Thursday night. I’ll be in an area that I spent four of the best years of my life, so I’m sure that it will bring back some great memories. When I lay my head on the pillow tonight I will have some of that anticipation and excitement that kids get on Christmas Eve. It’s great to feel nervous excitement again, even if it’s just for a night. Really, what more could I ask for?
Kids Archery Clinic