By: Opal Murray
“Still I rise” – Maya Angelou
HOLLYWOOD – During a recent conversation with a friend I mentioned the earthquake in Haiti. My friend then stated she had taken leave of watching the news. She continued to explain that she had reached her ‘bad news’ saturation point. I understood and perhaps you do as well.
Think about it. In our recent past, we have been inundated with news about wars, crashes of all types – airplanes, cars, industries. There were stories about: flooding, snowstorms, rainstorms, earthquakes, recession, job loss, the possible collapse of the Greek and Spanish economies plus many more equally disturbing stories. Then there are our personal tragedies or disappointments: death, illness, divorce, unemployment, home foreclosure, bankruptcy, violence and the list goes on.
Surveying this landscape of misery brought Marvin Gaye crooning “Make me want to holla/ throw up both my hands.” I could hear Bob Marley adding: “Excuse me while I light my spliff / Oh God I got to take a lift / From reality I just can’t drift.” Reality is taking its toll. But should we accept this reality as the end of our story?
Booker T. Washington answered this question with a resounding no when he reminded us that “Success is to be measured not so much by the positions that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”
My struggle to understand some of the obstacles I have encountered recently led me to a deeper understanding of what it means to start over. I had viewed life as a linear experience therefore starting over was not an option. Taking a new path or creating a new life related only to the witness protection program. In real life one takes this linear route and continues to build on existing grounds. In hindsight it seems foolish to continue to build even when the ground is shifting. Many of us are wise enough to accept the prophetic signals and make the necessary adjustments. Unfortunately, many of us ignore the signs because we refuse to adjust to a new reality and only when we experience cataclysmic conditions we begin to seek new avenues.
It is a daunting task to begin anew. Starting a new career, or life after a divorce or death of a loved one, filing for bankruptcy making the necessary emotional adjustments from being the parent of a dependent child to parenting an independent adult child are some of the circumstances we may face. But we should be aware that these are only changes, not the end. If we take the time to examine creation stories, we will find that most, if not all, have at least three factors – a void, a nothingness or a need (sometimes manifesting as the end of some other entity); a Creator, creative mind or a desire and thirdly, an action that leads to the creation, the new ‘thing’.
Our ancestors – spiritual, genetic, or national have faced devastations and destructions in their times. They also experienced shifting grounds or catastrophic events. While we may not know the intricacies of their decision making process, we know that they made the necessary changes. Our history shows that their desires and creativity resulted in the development or evolution of societies, systems, technologies and tools to correct or replace their losses, need, or void.
This could very well be our time to take a new path, to start over not just to achieve personal success but success for our communities as well. We have this wonderful opportunity to approach our lives as if it were morning, the emergence of our rising sun. The situations we are going through may be serving as instruments that uncover our long lost dreams or perhaps we find that these events are generating our new dreams and desires.
If there seems to be a shift in our lives or even if we have waited until there is a total collapse, let us take the time to survey our landscape and determine if starting over is right for us. If the evidence supports our decision to start over, we must believe that we have the opportunity to create a life that is even more beautiful and abundant than what we had before.
Many of us can recall Hurricane Katrina bellowing through New Orleans and leaving a trail of death, devastation, pain and anguish. There was a feeling of loss, despair and emptiness. When the New Orleans Saints beat the odds and won the 2010 Super Bowl, the city erupted in merriment, jubilation and revelry. What a difference 4 ½ years have made. Many of us celebrated with both the Saints and New Orleans because we recognized that this modern redemption story is also our story.
As we face obstacles and are subjected to devastating events, we must know that they do not represent the end of our stories. They are, most likely, our gateway to start over. We, like New Orleans, can start over. One way to do this is to affirm that we have the imagination, will and wisdom to rebuild our lives. We have the strength, creativity, and power to rebuild our communities and yes, to rebuild Haiti, as well.
“Starting all over again, is gonna be rough, so rough/ but we gonna make it.” ~ Mel Hardin and Tim McPherson
Thank you for reading One Heart One Minute with Opal
Opal Murray
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