Life...It's a Heartbeat.

Donna and I were driving home from where ever it was we had been and she said to me, I’ve got something you can blog about.  I said, do you?  She said, have you ever thought about how life relates to the heart monitor machine?  My response was, no not really.  Explain it to me.  She said you know how on a heart machine the line is going up and down as the heart beats.  Uh huh, was my response.  She asked me, what does that indicate?  I said, um it usually means that the heart is beating.  She answered me with great enthusiasm, right!  Then she asked me a second question.  What does it mean when the line is straight?  I said, that’s easy, it means you’re dead.  Her response back to me was in the form of another question.  So if a flat line means you’re dead, the squiggly lines mean?  I answered, that you’re alive.  She said, exactly!  You can blog about that.

Being the slow person that I am, it took me a moment to really understand what she was talking about.  I got it though.  The squiggly line that goes up and down with the heart beat means that you’re living, that there is life.  Just like the line, life isn’t flat.  There are times that you’re going to experience some uphill climbs.  There are times when things are going to be tough and you don’t know if you’ll make it or not, but you keep pushing.  Just as you reach the top or make it through the ordeal, you reach the peak.  Just like life, there are times when things are on the downhill side.  Things are great and you seem to be coasting along with no problems, everything is just easy and smooth.  Then you reach the bottom or the valley and the process starts all over again. 

The peak, that is where we all want to stay.  The view is great, the air is pure and clean, everything is perfect at the peak.  Our peaks are there as a reward from the climb we just made.  Our peaks are resting points and a time for us to be restored and refreshed.  The peaks of our life are full of joy, celebration and success.  The problem is, as much as we'd love to, we know we can’t stay there.  Sure our peaks are so much fun and exciting, but how would life be if all we ever experienced was a peak?

The downhill side of life is another area we want to stay.  It’s easy; you don’t have to do anything.  Life is just coasting by and there aren’t any issues to face or stresses to bother you.  The kids are good, the spouse is good, everyone’s health is good, the job is going great and the dog loves you.  Again, how much fun would life be if everything was a downhill ride? 

Nobody likes the valley or the bottom.  The valley is usually dark, gloomy and not a very pleasant place to be, but it encourages you to start the climb back to the peak.  In a valley you know that there is a peak in your near future.  You'll have to push through the valley and endure a climb, but in the back of your mind you know it's there.  Nobody wants to stay in the valley or at the bottom, so you doing everything you can to get out of it.  It’s the valley where you have to gather the strength to start the climb back up the hill.  It is in the valley that you figure out you can make it to the next peak.  It's at the peak when you look back at the valley and think, that wasn't so bad. 

That’s life.  It’s full of ups and downs, with high points and peaks, with low spots and valleys.  Without them life would be one flat line and we all know what a flat line on a heart monitor means…there is no life. 

So the next time you’re sitting in your bottom and you’re complaining about the problems you have to face, remember one very important thing.   You have life and the life you have is worth living.  Live it to the best of your ability.  You’re alive and kicking and that’s more than the people in the cemetery are doing. 

Just my thoughts on a page.