Hold em' Or Fold em'

     The last couple of weeks has been like a pot of boiling water.  The water starts out very still and everything looks to be fine.  Then some action begins to take place and the surface of the water begins to vibrate, ripple and the realization that something is not quite right begins to register.  When the water reaches a full boil, all hell has broken loose and if there was a potato in the water the pot is boiling over, making a huge mess.  

     Finally it becomes obvious that it's time to turn the switch off.  Doing that doesn't immediately calm the water, but at least it is a step in the right direction.  After everything cools down, there is a chance to clean up the mess, discard half a roll of paper towels in the trash and be done with it.  That's where I am, done with it.

     I've never truly burnt a bridge in my entire life.  I always ran back, with a bucket of water, to douse the flames.  Leaving just enough of a timber or two to walk across, just in case the other side wanted to come back. 

     Not this time.  I didn't have to actually set it on fire.  Instead I took a chain saw and cut through the supports at each end and watched that puppy fall into the depths of a ravine.  It was the most liberating feeling I've ever experienced.  Too bad I didn't have this mindset when I was 18, could have saved myself a lot of grief.

     Sometimes I have to flip the switch on my creativity.  Yesterday in the studio, I broke a piece I was working on.  That rarely happens but when it does, I know it's time to push back and walk away.  So that's what I did and now my kitchen is cleaner than it has been in quite some time and even the vacuum got a good workout.

     Life deals us a hand of cards to play for as long as we have the chance.  Sometimes we know how to play and sometimes we spend a great deal of time just learning the game.  Sometimes we have to fold, push back from the table and take a moment to reflect on how we could have played it better.  

     I've been dealt a new hand.  There's five aces in it.  Hmm....a stacked deck, this time it's in my favor.  One to have up my sleeve and I'm going to hold for a very long time.

     May life deal you a fresh hand, may you find in it five aces too.