Run barefoot down life's path casting flowers all around yourself. You are a child full of energy and hope. Each new thing is a bright shining opportunity, something new to examine and taste... You pick up a thorn and must stop ...cry a little and remove it... you run a little further... the thorn is gone, but the wound still tender... so you walk for a while, still full of ideals and wonder... looking all around yourself, seeing all the bright colors and hearing with joyful ears the music of life.

You slow down a little to speak to others on the path... to find things in common.. to share smiles and songs. You meet someone who is not smiling, all is not well with the world. You talk a while, then move on, wondering, walking a bit slower.

Someone is walking beside you now, you smile and share stories and songs. Your path is somehow nicer and smoother while walking together. More friendly walkers join in your path, as you go along, some join, some go away and leave a sad little spot in your heart.

There seem to be more stones in the path now. You turn your ankle and must lean on your friend for a while, or, perhaps your friend has picked up a thorn for you to remove. You must walk slower now, until the ankle heals, or the thorn wound is unfestered. You look around, and see fewer of your fellows walking with you. The path is steeper, and still more rocky, with resting places fewer and farther between. Sometimes now it rains, not the nice clean spring rain, but a hard cold winter rain.

You look up and your path is lonely... you see fewer and fewer with whom you can share, and when you happen to meet someone, you treasure the moments spent together, you lean on each other briefly, then realizing that you are travelling in different paths, say sad farewells and walk on, just a little slower, a little more reflective.

The memory of the barefoot child causes you to smile wistfully now and then, and to actually skip, for a moment. Then, cautious of the stones in the road, you walk on slowly and more alone.

Your partner cannot go farther.... but must rest a while, and though you want to stay, moving on is what you must do.

You've always kept walking forward, into the future, but now... you begin to wonder... what is this obscure thing called a future? Perhaps it is not the goal you truly want after all. ... and now you are getting a little tired of the walking. Resting looks so good.. you trip and fall... then sit there in the path for a while... fewer people pass, some nod as they walk on by. Your habit of walking gets you to your feet and you limp along still slower.

Turning to look back, you see the path is not as long as you thought, and not as rocky. The stones you saw as boulders are mere pebbles... you smile to yourself, there is no one else close by.... so you sit a while to look at the view.

When Did you stop looking at the view? It looks a little less crisp and bright now, but the softness and glow of the lighting make it quite beautiful in a different way. An occasional walker stops to talk to you briefly and you are grateful for the company.

Looking ahead, you see fewer stones, some potholes but nothing very big... and over on the horizon.. what is that? The colors look different there... maybe worth walking just a little further....so you begin walking again, slowly leaning on a stick you found the last time you fell...

The air is warm and friendly, with a slight breeze carrying a hint of music and flowers. This has been a nice walk, met a lot of good people... sure miss some of them...

The light ahead is glowing and friendly and a mist fills the air...and then, there in the path, old friends... how did they get here ahead of you? My but the grass is green, and the sky is blue... my ankle doesn't hurt now like it did... I bet I could even run up that hill over there,
barefoot.....

March, 2000 Paula ©

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