Since it is the end of January, I was thinking about how we are a month into a new year, and well past the point where we are pretending to have resolutions that we plan to stick to for another 11 months. And as I looked through some pictures I thought about the physics class where you were asked where to shoot to hit the monkey if it let go of the branch at the same time you fired. The right answer, if you didn’t take physics, is at the monkey. Why, you ask? Because gravity.
Gravity pulls down on us all and if we don’t keep reaching for something higher, we all slip down and end up hitting a target lower than we intended. Sometimes, it is so easy to forget what we were aiming for because of the forces around us that continually pull down on us.
That which does not kill us may make us stronger, but that which makes us stronger sure can be painful. The good news is, that usually the pain dulls after a while and we can carry heavier burdens the next time. Sometimes when we have that strength, we can pick up those around us and let them lean on us for a while when things are too heavy for them.