Will we ever finish trying to get our lives together?

I sat on my front porch -- eyes gazing out over the beautifully landscaped yards around me. Summer is arriving, and with it, comes awesome beauty, warm temperatures and the sounds of nature. The warbling of birds singing, filled my ears with melody, and the colors of scenery outside filled my eyes, ears, and heart with happiness. God's artistry displayed itself from every direction. Soon though, my thoughts turned to more serious matters,

I remembered a conversation between a friend, Janie, and her granddaughter, Sonja. Janie had asked Sonja to perform a small chore for her. The girl nervously shifted from one foot to the other before she answered, "Sorry, Grandma, I can't, I have too much to do." Janie, with a look of surprise on her face, asked; "Well, what is that important?" Sonja shakily replied, "Grandma, I am trying to get my life together, and I need to get off by myself and think." She was very firm in her intention. Janie was familiar with the problems and challenges that Sonja constantly encountered, so she told her she understood. Janie sighed, took a deep breath and hoped to see some results in the future.

I groped within, because the response; "I have to get my life together," struck a chord inside me that I didn't expect. What the girl said, sounded familiar. Doesn't everyone, at one time or another, feel that they need to, and can, get things together. He/she knows that life could be much better, more relaxing and more satisfying if he/she took the time and possessed the motivation to put one foot in front of the other and make it happen. People feel that they can achieve an almost perfect life, if they can merely meditate, figure things out and do it. They believe if they will keep trying -- eventually, everything will work out and they can enjoy the fruits of their labors.

But can we ever, really stop trying to figure our life out? Can we sit passively by, refusing to reevaluate and adopt our lives again and again, to the new elements that appear as time goes on? Many, if not most, believe it's indeed, possible, to get their lives almost as they want them, but their dreams often predominate before they have experienced life. After mulling the question; "Can someone get his life together once and for all, around in my head, I concluded that we will always be a work in progress. We may stop gambling, give up drugs, stop drinking, excessively, and refrain from going back to those vises, but life encompasses a much larger space. There's always room to start afresh and initiate a new beginning. American writer, Joseph Campbell, writes, "We must be willing to get rid of the life, we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come." We shed our skins often so that we can be open to a new one. We can never allow ourselves to settle into thinking we have changed for the last time. When we think we've changed or we've gotten our life together for the last time, is when we cease to grow. We slide backwards rather than, even, standing still.

When a young person, or anyone else, decides to get their life together, the intention is to be applauded. Regardless of how many times they've begun the task of becoming a different person with more desirable values, and attitudes, we should encourage them with the knowledge that "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

I meditated, long and hard on Sonja's remark of "I've got to go off and be alone. I'm trying to get my life together." I felt invigorated because it showed the vulnerability of a young woman attempting to make sense of her world while trying to figure out how she can best do it. She was nervous and afraid, yet she admitted she needed to make a change and planned to pursue the goal.

"You have to free your mind to do things you wouldn't think of doing. Don't ever say no" (Carl Lewis).