Reflections From a Country Girl

I’m up early this morning.  The wind is blowing fiercely outside my window as it has been most of the night.  It reminds me of Bob Dylan’s song, The Answer is Blowing in the Wind, that became his first classic back in 1962. 

There’s lots of questions these days that need answering.  

Those answers are not always easy to come by. I never thought of looking for them in the wind, but maybe Bob Dylan had the right idea.  

After all, if we stop to listen, it gives us time to think…and that is often what we need.  To stop and think. 

I have some young friends who love to “debate” back and forth all the time.  They are both strong personalities, fiercely independent, and some would say “headstrong.”  They often bicker about the craziest things.  I’m not quite sure why.   I call it their drama moments and there are plenty of them.  The energy they use on these fruitless conversations are really not very productive.  Sometimes I think they are too much alike.  

You may have been there like these two.  Debating about insignificant things that are carried way too far.  

I’ve suggested to one of them that he needs to step up to the plate and take a deep breathe, stop to think if this is really worth the battle, and try to understand the other’s frustration…thereby diffusing the arguments and maybe even starting a new and more healthy way to “discuss” things.  I also suggested that if that does not work, they may need to part ways.  After all, life is just too darn short to be in this kind of environment all the tim. 

Next time I see one of them and they tell me of their next demise, I have decided to say “the answer is blowing in the wind.”  All they have to do is stop a moment to hear the wind or – even better – the silence, it will give them time to think about what to say in a kinder and gentler way…something they are both very capable of.  

Maybe Bob Dylan had it right after all. 

My wish for you today is that you stop to think before you speak.  Things may be hard, tensions may be high, but taking a second to reflect about what you want to say instead of just rolling on with the thoughtless, and sometimes, hurtful words can make things a bit better in the long run.  

~ Joellen

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 6:57:am and is filed under Conflicts, Living Life to the Fullest, Making wise choices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.