The photo above is a picture I took of a bittersweet vine. It's an invasive species introduced into this country in the 1800s as an ornamental. From there it took over, spreading by roots and seeds, suffocating plants and felling trees, which is rather impressive when you consider it is only another plant. It takes a lot of work to get rid of bittersweet vines. They are not easy to defeat.
But the bright berries are pretty, even though they are poisonous. So while the vine is delightful to look at, it can be deadly, which is why bittersweet is a very apt name for it. There's pleasure, but there's also regret.
Life is like that. There's the wonderful times and the sad times. With another year gone and a new one just begun, I get anxious. Scary things have happened in the past, and there's no doubt in my mind that some events in the future will be just as bad if not worse. Life comes with no guarantees.
But there will be good times, too. There always are. The bitter and the sweet mingle together. The happy moments, the sad moments, the highs and the lows. One day might be filled with tears. The next might be filled with laughter.
And sometimes, there will be boring days. I've come to appreciate those mundane times where drama is noticeably lacking--except in the pages of a book. I enjoy trudging along in the familiar routine and accomplishing some of the tasks I've set for myself. It's those humdrum times when I seem to achieve far more than I thought I could--when I race along like those bittersweet vines, climbing toward the sun without anything to stop me.
So here's to 2020. I'll move forward and pray for plenty of uneventful days.
6 comments:
Moving in either direction today is difficult. Sometimes, just standing still is hard!
Irene:
I hope you find it easier to move tomorrow!
I can foresee some of the sadness headed my way in 2020, but I also know I'll have unexpected, undeserved joy, too. I hope my faith grows through all the blessings and heartaches that may come in 2020. Thanks for sharing this post.
Gay:
The unexpected, underserved joy is always sweet. May you find more of that in 2020.
Best wishes for peace and contentment in 2020. Now for an odd question...whatever happened to the cyst on your thumb? While looking around the googeverse I found the picture that you posted and it looks just like mine right now. Given the sorry state of our health care system, I am checking out all the info I can before trying to get into the doctors.
Barb
Hi Barb,
The cyst on my thumb diminished somewhat and doesn’t bother me much—although the arthritis does on occasion. As I said originally, I did not have an operation to remove it. The operation was costly and did not guarantee that the cyst would be gone for good. Still, I am glad I had the x-ray of the thumb to make sure I knew what it was.
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