My Kaleidoscope

I remember sitting in my room as a kid and holding a kaleidoscope up to my eye...squinting through that tiny little hole in the end...pointing it towards the light on the ceiling. I remember marveling at the beautiful shapes and colours that appeared as I twisted and turned the end of it...wondering how in the world it worked. How did the people who made it manage to get all of those shapes and colourful objects inside the end of the tube? I loved how each shape moved into the next one with the simple fluid motion of my hand.
Sometimes when I find myself lost in this life....worried about things that I can not control...things that I can not change...things that truly don't matter.....I think about that sunny afternoon in my room. I think about how warm the sun felt on my skin as it shined through the window next to my bed....my pink canopy princess bed. I think about my soft blanket and pillow...my most special stuffed animals that had the honour of sitting on the bed instead of being put away with the other toys. I think about my white dresser with all of my little trinkets on it...all of the little shiny things that are special to a little girl. I think about how quiet it was....how serene and quiet.
As an adult, I've learned that sometimes we don't have all the answers. Sometimes we really have absolutely no idea what we are doing. Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we don't. The real fight...the real challenge...the real test of our character...is what we do with the obstacle that lies in front of us. Do we sit there staring at the problem getting upset and thinking woah is me? Or do we turn the end of that kaleidoscope and change our focus...force ourselves to look at the problem from another angle...another perspective? Do we let ourselves get trapped in that one scene...that one mind-boggling issue? Our eyes zeroing in on the hard lines and the sharp angles of that problem. Or do we adjust....with the slightest movement...a mere twitch of our focus...and see that those lines and angles aren't so hard...and they aren't so sharp?
Sometimes it is definitely easier said than done to keep things fluid. Sometimes it feels like even attempting that motion and that change would take the strength of a thousand Rocky Balboa's. Sometimes it feels like it would just be easier...safer...more familiar to just continue to look at the same picture. Sometimes those colours and shapes we have been staring at for what seems like forever bring us a feeling of normalcy....and that is ok too. Everyone deserves that moment of ease. Everyone deserves that comfort. However, we need to remember to take that chance and make that shift...keep things moving....because who knows what we could accomplish and what problem we could solve if we made that slight shift. The possibilities are endless and the beauty of a new design and a new picture spread out across our vision is guaranteed.