Lead Foot #4: Rise Above

No one's life is perfect. There are some who will pretend the case is otherwise, but their lives tend to be more imperfect than most. I know with all certainty that my life isn't perfect. True, it has had its perfect moments of sublime bliss, but it has also had discord, sorrow, and hatred.

It's life.

Life shouldn't be a continuous plateau. It should have its ups and downs. That is how we grow as human beings and how we learn to value the good things we have.

I have held the same philosophy for many, many years. In life, when faced with difficulty, we have two choices: Rise above or sink below.

I tell my students (as I'll someday tell my son), when they're in the midst of some petty drama, that they need to "Rise above." Rise above the drama, the petty rivalries, the gossip and lies.

It generally doesn't change the situation, but they're in high school, a bastion fraught with drama.

I'm okay with that.

I'm not okay with adults who don't rise above. Perhaps a major character flaw or fault on my part, but I have no patience for adults who throw themselves pity parties, who let their circumstances defeat them. Maybe someday I'll meet an adult whose circumstances make me reevaluate my stance. As it stands, I have yet to meet an adult  in my life who is truly the victim of all circumstances, who has no hope of rising above...

But enough pontificating. When I saw the tree in the photo I snapped (back at 80mph), I thought about how it was rising above the dark clouds. It's not rising into the blue sky. It's rising to meet the storm clouds.

I like that. I like that very much.