MOMENTARILY DERAILED

When I was a kid we had this huge outdoor wooden spool.  It was like a spool of thread, but life size.  Big enough when turned upright, to be a round table.  How it came to reside with us I'm not sure.  I think it came from the phone company where it had been wound with huge expanses of telephone cable.  Many times we would roll it on its side (like a hamster wheel) on a smooth surface and much like a log roll in water, try to balance while wheeling it at the same time.  There were times where just the right balance and speed allowed you to stay on the spool for a longer period of time without falling off - those rides were awesome.  Other times, the ride was short and the fall came fast.  Life is a bit like that rolling spool.  There are times where I can balance fears, frustrations, longings, heartache better than others.  Then, like riding the spool, I get momentarily derailed.  I can remember balancing on that spool.  There was an art to balancing, creating momentum and moving the spool forward.  My thoughts are the same.  I love the movie, "What About Bob".  There is a scene in the movie where Bob has allowed all his fears and phobias to control his behavior, his choices and his rich enjoyment of the present.  How easily it is for me to get myself mentally and momentarily derailed by circumstances and thoughts.  Yesterday my boss and I were talking.  He asked me how I was doing emotionally with the two issues in my life that are my tough ones.  I asked him how he was doing emotionally with the three issues I know he battles.  Then he asked if I couldn't please get another issue to tie him in number of things that weigh heavily - it would make him feel better!  We both laughed with comfort and knowledge that we all have thoughts and things that we struggle with.   I'm always aspiring, even times battling, for balance and forward momentum.  And, when I get derailed momentarily by thoughts, acknowledging the struggle, but not letting it keep me off the spool of life.   It's an art form.