From burned out old wood, comes new life, giving breath to a fresh new start
Change is very difficult to embrace. Habits are hard to uproot and comfort zones are fondly held onto. It is possible to carry on in life never having experienced all that life has to offer, if we never refuse to shake up the ground we stand on.
For some of us, I am guilty as charged, change is not only hard to embrace but it is very much hidden from in favour of the almighty comfort zone. Then, out of the blue change decides to make itself known once and for all. It grabbed me, as if lying in wait for me to come round the corner and be ambushed by it. It's happened more than once! The first major change was when my long career with TD Bank Financial Group came to an abrupt end, due to downsizing/outsourcing/restructuring, what ever they want to call it, I was sacked with 63 other hard working souls. The second has been the very sad, but abrupt separation from my wife of twenty years. There is no nice and easy way to say it, it has been the most difficult thing I have ever had to deal with in my entire life. The new normal is one that I have yet to fully understand and embrace, but it is happening weather I like it or not. So change is in the air.
I remain not bitter about what has passed. I do not hate. Yes I am sad, seemingly to no end. This sadness is not unlike a dark and uncharted path in the woods. Insecurity that no one can see and uncertainty all around. I can only hold firm to God for his strength and guidance. Yes, I believe in God. If I ever doubted him I can certainly say that inspire of me he has been ever more so real to me through this time of sadness and despair.
I am trying to look forward, not backward. The old forest has burned to the ground. Little of it remains, and I am seeking the new growth. New hopes, new dreams, new paths.
This canvas is my testament to what has transpired in my life. An expression of things to come. I've no bitterness for the past, but I hope and pray that I will learn from it and be a better man going forward.
RM