Get Out of the Way (353)

This is a phrase we hear throughout our lives, generally though, it means duck or side step because something is about to smack into us, or on top of us. It is a warning. So when we hear it, we immediately look around, searching for the hazard. I have needed to relocate many times in my life to avoid the danger of flying objects, speeding cars, or natural causes. And to this point, I have been pretty successful at it. In other words, I am still here.

I have learned through my fifty plus years, that avoidance of collision is a good thing, in most cases. Steering clear of the singe is preventative. If we can make it to the other side of the battlefield still standing it is a great day, if we can exit the war scathed and more focused- it is a great day. Faith is tested daily. Our grace is tested. For this alone, we can not simply get out of the way. For these we must engage.

Our lives are tumultuous- even on the quietest of days. There is a noise, a crack of the branches warning us to hunker down. There is a siren, alerting us to the unexpected. There is a gust of dirt, kicking up from the landscape, stinging our eyes, reddening our raw faces- all in order for us to survive. All in order to keep us on course with a deep seeded reminder, we are human. We must remember we are not in this alone.

Get out of the way to me- means- open my eyes. Hear the cracks and sirens. Embrace them. Wear goggles. Wear protective gear. Make sure I am prepared for the tussle. Life might be great for some- little danger, few worries. But for me and most humans, there is a layer of dust these days. Circumstances blinding- yet also, many that nudge us out of harms way. We expect the setbacks, we only pivot when it is necessary, stay on course when it is necessary.

I get out of the way- not of others, but from myself. I have a fear, a heavy fear of rejection. Of abandonment. Of isolation. I have never quite felt accepted. I have always felt like I was on the fringe, on the outskirts. Close enough to get invested, close enough to join the battle- but always just a little too far away for others to flank. So I am nervous to share my journey- I am afraid "to slip away across the universe"- as The Beatles so eloquently put it.

The Beatles also said- "Nothing is going to change my world." The only way I can guarantee this- is to get out of the way. Let some scary things approach. Dodge the flying projectiles meant to distract, and continue the fight. This fight is internal, mental, often debilitating from experience. The memory of youth- still stinging the exposed skin of the dust storms. We are never quite clear of them. For the wind is relentless and scars indelible.

The only way to avoid the mines and cross the barbed wire is to get out of the way. See things from a location where the whole battlefield is within view. Those entangled within it are not enemies, yet they feel like it sometimes. They are troops on their own battlefields and we are participants in their maneuvers and skirmishes. We are the reason they get out of their own way. And for this, we must stand tall, sidestep when necessary and endure the path we choose to traverse.

Lean in, walk through the rubble, let the dust settle. For in the warble and wobble of life we find gems. We find reflection. We find the reasons why we always go to our battle stations and enter the fight. The rubble represents success and failure. The toppling of fear and hesitancy- but also exposes the bricks and pieces of life, that we build our hopes and dreams from. 

The foundation of our next step. For the end is the beginning. The piles require sorting. The area beckons us to not get out of the way, but to pick up the first piece of the puzzle. And we must get out of the way in order to see this. We must lean in to see it. Believe in the process in order to learn from it. Accept the juxtaposition - enjoy the warble and wobble of our orbit. For when we do, the action itself becomes natural and the result frequent.