September in the Gloaming.

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Step back, breathe deeply.  Observe and ponder the very small things.  The things that might be hidden by larger things, more pressing and more loud.  But not necessarily more important.

In fact, those little things often hold the key to a door that was closed, a corner of the mind that was blocked.  Listen.  Ponder.

My automatic response to those days when everything seems stale and unprofitable is a long walk with Algy... I look through his lens and freeze time, not really caring if the picture is truly good or not.  My mind a turmoil of pain or confusion, my eyes seeing nothing but the vastness and coldness of the world.

And every time, my eyes are forced to actually look at the beauty that is surrounding me - patient, magnificent, intricate, waiting to be seen.  I realize anew how precious it is to ponder something in my heart with my future the outcome.

We can't control our futures, but in a way, we can - every choice we make is a direct influence on the rest of our life's journey.  Every thought, every action, is another word or page written in our story.  Shaping us to become the people that we are.

Stepping back, pausing to drag the depths of your soul and examine who you are and what you want to be, choosing to glory in life rather than be overwhelmed by it or escape from it, is not the easy way out.  But when it's past, when you're back on the track and strong in the knowledge of the race before you, it is sweet to say - 

It is well.