Letter 046: In a Few Hours
Greetings, hero!
In a few hours, the day will be over.
For some of you, that's an unfortunate fact: you've been productive. The sun was shining and you wish it would last just a few hours more—this was the kind of day that will stretch out into an eternity in your mind, the blissful mix of joy and work, struggle and reward that makes for the perfect middle way of life. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but today has brought everything you need to be happy—and you just want to live in it a little longer.
But some of you have spent the whole day waiting for it to end. For the blissful coming of night when you can wrap up all the fuss and bustle, toss it into the laundry bin of the week, and re-roll on a better tomorrow. Today was hard, boring, difficult, long, as if all the other normally pleasant hours of the week had conspired to stretch into one never-ending gray Tuesday. Tomorrow can't come fast enough!
And still others of you fall somewhere in between, into the ordinary ups and downs of life, compressed into one short 24 hour period... But no matter what kind of day you had, the facts are regrettably (or fortunately) the facts. Today ends in just a few hours. So if you're reading this, may I offer this quote from Florida Scott-Maxwell?
“The enchantment of the sky, ever changing beauty, is almost ignored. Beyond words, without fixed form, not to be understood, or even stated. It ravishes away dullness, worry, even pain. It graces life when nothing else does. It is the first marvel of the day. Even when leaden grey it is still a friend, withdrawn for a time.” - Florida Scott-Maxwell
So no matter what kind of day you had, no matter what kind of weather you find—from the grayest of grays to the brightest of pastels—take a look up. Past the pleasant or difficult elements of the things right in front of you, away from the ordinary or horrible or extraordinary parts of your day, and into the night sky. Who knows what kind of day you will have tomorrow—who knows what adventures or challenges it holds. But whatever comes, look to that first marvel of the day—the morning sky, which has a habit of showing up no matter what kind of day you had before!
May the road rise up to meet you!
The Mentor