The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

The past few weeks have been a roller coaster ride for my family, and after talking to a few other people, they too have been going through some trials and tribulations. Then after the big wind storm that swept through the area, followed by an inspirational coffee lid, I started to think about some things.

Picture this. We are traveling along our life paths. Some paths could be pristine with not even the slightest crack in the surface. Some could be a wooden planked path with aged wood and even some warped edges from time to time. But most of us have a dirt path. Rocky, wide at times, but mostly narrow with just enough room to stand. It goes downhill sometimes and then very steep at others. We enjoy the spots in the path where it is easy walking. Flat and easy going, sometimes without a care in the world. But it is the tricky parts of the path that always put us on edge. We are most careful and slow going through the roughest parts. For most of the time, we travel pretty well and seem to conquer whatever obstacle is placed on our path.

Then it rains. No matter what path you are on, rain is inevitable. The rain leaves the path muddy or slick but it always leaves puddles. When we step in these puddles, wetness splatters on us and on those around us. Sometimes we even get stuck in deep mud that has formed and we feel we will never get out.

What is all this path talk about? Well, you see, our life is the path, and the things that happen on our path are our experiences with life. Sometimes we step in the stuff that slows us down emotionally and physically. Life happens on our path. Financial hardships, bad decisions, speeding tickets and relationship problems are the mud puddles of our life. Sometimes we are able to jump the puddles or go around them, but will always, at one time or another, we’ll step right in it. Deaths, divorce, bad parental decisions and poor choices are the giant puddles that sometimes seem impossible or too scary to make it through.

But it is these puddles in our lives that make us who we are. Yes, there are some that seem to never get a bit of dirt on them, and yet there are others that seem to be dripping with sticky mud wherever they go. Mud puddles in life are a painful thing to conquer, but on the other side there always seems to be a reward of some kind. Nevertheless, we are always better people if we learn from our obstacles. Sometimes we seem to go head first in the same puddle time and time again. Will we ever learn?

I don’t know what your puddle is right now, but I do know this: If we learn from our problems and mistakes, we are better on the other side, and next time we will be a little drier when we encounter such a thing. There are some things that help too.

Rubber boots and an umbrella. Some people might call this God’s love and his word. If we venture out wearing these tools, sometimes things can go a little better. But be warned, the wind will blow and the rain will fall, and we will find ourselves on a muddy, slick path trying to conquer the major obstacle placed there. Sometimes from our own doing, sometimes from our enemy.

Go ahead, jump in that mud puddle and be prepared to be soaked. It is worth it if we learn from it. I’m just saying.