Sitting in the quiet of exam room in the orthopedic doctor’s office yesterday, I entertained myself by reading through bits of the Reminisce magazine. I discovered once again that I don’t sit still well (a different discussion for a different time), and in the magazine - this really cool invention. It was a four slatted wood piece that joined together through a frame work on both sides. The four pieces could be pivoted to form a four level bookcase, a four step step-ladder, or a four board table. I actually paused over the pages, worn and creased from the many hands of the many patients who have looked through it over the last year.
But really - how cool is that? I mean, one minute you have a book case, holding this and that. Friends call and now you need an extra table. Time for a party! Take the things off, and start pivoting the bookcase into a table. But, that cake plate on that high shelf over there is just the thing to hold the super fudgy brownie bars that you plan for dessert, so it becomes a stair step ladder. Then, while the super fudgy brownie bars go in the oven, grab the great tablecloth and decorate the now extra table.
I was thinking how I have to be interchangeable like that in my life. Sometimes, I think I’m a table. People can put things onto me, sharing burdens, tasks, joys, excitement, anguish, and existence in general. A table is well suited to it’s task, holding items. And I can hold these things quite well most of the time, as long as the weight is fairly balanced. Do you remember those old sets of Encyclopedias? Didn’t you love the smell of those, the weight of those thick books in your hands. Let’s say those encyclopedias are all piled at the end of the table and the represent the things shared by others. Without a counter weight at the other end, my table is going to tip! So, if I’m going to be a table, I need to make sure that I maintain a balanced load. I will need to make sure I take care of myself as well as helping and sharing others. That’s not always easy for me to do though. I like to help, to give, to share and at times I have a hard time saying that I’m going to focus on me. In the same thought, it can be reversed and sometimes I need to think of others more. It is a balance that must be striven for.
Sometimes, I think I’m like the stairs. I have the determined mindset in my life that I’m not content to just coast through. People will often talk about cups being half full or half empty, but my cup has been pressed down, shaken, smashed, packed full, crammed full with more swarming more in, and still overflowing. I’ve experienced many blessings, but they never would have happened if I stood forever on the first step. I had to climb to the next. Quite often, I think I must look like a child just learning how to climb stairs because I don’t always do that gracefully. In fact, I can be kind of klutzy. So, there are some scrapes from along the way. There are times when I think that I’m climbing away, can even get a good glimpse of that cake plate (so to speak) and it turns out to be much farther than I thought. But, still, it’s the decision to keep climbing that I’m finding so valuable. It is when I become stuck, numb, or static that I find my vision is skewed and I’ve lost sight of my goal. My vision needs to be focused.
I love books. I have books that are like old friends. I have read through the words on their pages many times, and the cover has softened with use. A few have accidentally been dunked in the bath tub, others have corners missing from puppy teething. But, on the bookcases that contain these printed lineages of thought, I think that sometimes I’m like that as well. The bookcases don’t read the information, they hold it. Sometimes, I hold information and keep it to myself. A large part of that would just be my normal private thoughts and conversations, internal and safely inside my own brain. Another part would be lessons learned. Lessons perhaps from the time of being a table or a step ladder, the action of change, or successes and failures along the way. I learn, observe, and keep it for when I need the information later. Bookcases can be so handy for keeping the important things handy. You may not need them every moment of every day, but it is good to know where to find them when you are ready.
The structure itself is very important to consider. To allow these boards movement and yet stability would require strength and equilibrium. When I need to change my focus, my shelf self into a table or step ladder, I need a strong focal point as well. One that is well cared for and flexible. It is what is at my core that I need to carefully examine and keep in excellent condition or my stairs will wobble, the table will be slanted, and the book shelf might start leaning.
I don’t know exactly what that manufacturer had in mind when developing a tri-functioning product. I wonder if the thought was ever had, beyond the mechanical duties and structure of these objects. Each function had to be understood before a solid construction could be created. Thankfully, I also have a creator who fully understands and enables me to carry out multiple functions.
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