Destination or Bridge?

I was reading a post by a friend of mine and what he was sharing really resonated with me; it practically reached out and screamed “pay attention to me Char!”.  He was talking about “the gift of perspective” and within that, he challenged whoever to really think about this—is this stop in life a destination or a bridge?  While, his post was about something totally different, it’s always so funny (not ha ha funny, but…) to me that even those couple of phrases, really spoke to me about where my life is at right now.  

For those of you who know me, I am a person who can truly compartmentalize the various facets of who I am.  I am so many things besides being Char.  I am a mom, friend, daughter, co-worker, sister, aunt, and (at times have been known to be) a girlfriend.  Clearly, I know that there are a lot more “components” to me than this, but you know…  As I was sayin…It is all of these parts of me that I really am trying to “work” on.  I want to be the most authentic, best version of myself that I can be.  I don’t always achieve “greatness” on a daily basis, but at the end of everyday, I reflect and say, “What do I need to repent for?  Who do I need to apologize to?  How can I be better tomorrow?”

One of the things that I know that I haven’t been thinking about is—is this place (today, this moment, this month, this relationship, this ________________ ) a bridge or a destination?! Not only that, I haven’t really reflected on past “things” in the same light.  Am I supposed to pitch a tent and take a nap “here”?  Or is this place where I am supposed to dig deep and put down roots?

I am so glad that I have people in my life who can share, truly, a phrase, that makes me stop in my tracks and compels me take note of something that I really need to examine in my life.  I want to live a life that is aware of the destinations and bridges.  I want to be a person who knows when to slow down, smell the roses but keep walking over that bridge and someone who needs to take advantage of the destination.  Ironically enough, I may only know which is which in hindsight!