Valleys Revisited

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about  the path I’m walking through life.  For the past year or so it seems to have been pretty straightforward.  Oh, there have been a few curves here and there, but they were mild and almost unnoticeable.  I thought  my path stretched out endlessly in front of me for so long that the horizon blurred and my road and the sky melted into one.

And I was fine with that, for the most part.  While I may have gotten antsy a time or two (or three…) I knew it couldn’t truly go on with so little variation forever.  In fact, I knew there would be a bend in the road soon enough.  So I tried to stay content while walking the path my feet were set on and occassionally remembering that I should keep an eye out for road signs.

It seems my eyes weren’t open when they needed to be. I missed a sign I would have appreciated.  My path suddenly became all twists and turns and, being caught unawares, I tumbled into this valley I have felt stuck in.  Now, I don’t know if I fell off my path or if it led me into the valley – I have no idea if the tumble was planned or completely accidental.  Maybe it was the shock I needed to open my eyes.  Maybe the valley I’ve been walking through is necessary in my life.  Maybe I didn’t fall off my path at all, but it led me steeply into this place.

There is beauty here in the valley.  I don’t know what, exactly, it is yet, but I will at some point.  That’s how valleys are.  They are covered in shadow, hidden by the hills and peaks on either side.  In the valley there are some individual beauties, little things to help us get through: a stream or a river, flowers or plants, a bird’s song. 

 However, it’s once you leave the valley and turn around for one last look that you see the whole picture.  Each beauty you grew to love may not be distinguishable anymore, but you will catch your breath at a greater, more awe-inspiring beauty.  Shadows dance across ridges that looked discouraging before, softening their edges.  Light winds its way through the shadows, subtle as a whisper, telling you that the valley may not have been as dark as you originally thought.

Yes, there is beauty here in this valley.  For now, though, my eyes are focused on the road before me, the road that leads up and out. 

There is a bend in the road ahead.  I can see it, even now at this distance.  I have no idea what lies beyond, and to be honest I’m a little afraid of the bend.  But I can’t wait for it.

So I walk.  I keep moving through this valley in hopes that I reach the sunlight soon.  And I listen to that little voice that has begun to whisper: maybe, just maybe, the sunlight is closer than I thought.