Life’s many challenges can often reset direction or path as we travel The Canvas of Life. Whether fortunate to never ever having switched gears or continuous resetting of sail to catch the winds of change.

At the age of eighteen, I entered college with emphasis on Accounting and Finance. I entered this field of studies because of my skill with numbers and it seemed like a good fit. One day, while working a summer job, I ran into a High School friend. I asked what she was studying and she mentioned Radiologic Technology (also known as X-Ray Technology School).

Intrigued…I applied that day.

I was accepted and from there received a taste of other modalities once housed under the Radiologic Technology wing of studies: Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, CT, MRI and Radiation Therapy. The last one peaking interest yet again.

Thinking I would be taking X-Rays for a living, I entered the Radiation Therapy program. Thirty years later I am still holding hands and comforting people during a difficult time in theirs lives.

I may be good with numbers, but bigger rewards come from holding anothers hand. My bank account would be different had I gone into money management or another financial arena, but I do not think I would have it any other way.

Parallel to life decisions, there are often many little decisions to make along the way. Are they separate to the whole or a part of the Greater Whole? Just as our literal universe comprises of microcosms and macrocosms, our reality exists in microcosmic or macro-cosmic proportions.

The same month I graduated college, Cristal and I were married, bought a home, got two dogs, started two new jobs. Our lives can be simple or they can be full speed ahead…ours have always been full speed ahead, with an ever-changing direction.

From microcosmic of buying a new house to macrocosm of giving birth to two beautiful children. While buying a new house may be a big deal to some, in actuality it is merely a house. Empty until one fills with personal touch and makes it a home.

Or more personal…someone abused as a child forever-changing their course. Having two directions, either into a world of taking medications to mask  pain or learning to slay inner dragons and facing shadow head-on.

Life is filled with pain and suffering on micro and macro levels. One cannot escape news: local broadcast or another person on their magical rectangle (smart phone) reciting current events. It is bleak, scary and unproductive. We must turn it off. I don’t mean ignore it…but merely focus on cleaning your own home, restoring peace within, before focusing on the outer worlds burning in turmoil. When time permits and one can engage in positive change, then by all means…engage.

How often do we hear this “Oh my gosh, did you hear about ______?” Where is the gain in this? What do we receive from engaging with all this information? Do we need to know that there was a car break in two communities away? Again, if we can help…by all means help. If not…let go of the news and continue on with your day.

Just as the very topic suggests, my entry today took a shift from making changes in life to drilling down on where our focus goes. Our reality changes in a blink of an eye, our course with intention of sorts, Our Canvas Of Life continually changing with ebb and flow of our own realities.

Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash