:)
Hayley's metaphorical story of the day:
"Windows"
I recently found myself wandering through the ostensibly time consuming hallways of an enormous building downtown.
As I approached the building, the first thing I noticed was the hundreds of thousands of windows that it housed. It was slightly odd but enough to make anyone want to take a look inside just to see the outside once again. A signed warned the curious, "Designated Entrance: Once inside -- No exit until next door."
I fought off all precaution and stepped inside. I was provided with brochures explaining the difference between each of the halls. The brochures were vague, and hard to understand. I decided that it would be easier to skip over the details in the pamphlets, and experience it firsthand.
The first hall had more windows than any of the others -- tens of thousands. You could walk for miles and still see windows and only windows. These windows lined each side of the walls, and every single one was open. I looked through the first, and was horrified by the scenery.. mangled bodies, broken spirits, pain -- hurt -- flooded emotion. My eyes welled with tears as I watched so many treacherous things happen. The second was just as bad, if not worse.. multiple car wrecks, accidents, murders. All before my eyes -- as if my eyes were playing the meanest prank on my brain. As I turned to run back through the entrance, there was a flashing sign that said "wrong way." -- prohibiting my leave. These windows led to all things awful -- and I was growing weak just being around them.. so I ran. I took off and didn't look back, or to either side.. hoping that my eyesight would be restored with the next hall that I found. I was running for decades it seemed, so many windows -- and so much time had passed, and yet I still hadn't reached any kind of conclusion to this madness. I continued in my strides, not stopping for breath. A flicker of light a couple of yards down was the only thing causing me to continue running. I, then, had the incentive to sprint.. as my peripheral vision and sharp hearing had not failed to make note of the things happening on the outside of those windows, as well as the inextinguishable cries for help.
The "This Way: Safe Zone" sign lead me to my next discovery, a bizarre hallway -- similar to the first in that it was lined with windows, but.. deeply tinted and all placed strategically on the floor. I didn't realize the reason for this at first, but that would soon come. These windows were a curious thing, and all who walked through this hallway learned to fear them because they, also, lead to nothing good. They could easily be mistaken for the black tiles on the floor, so.. if not careful -- it was quite possible to slip through. They weren't opened, but they were unlocked to the few who desired to look inside. I was part of that few. I jumped a few squares down to one that I thought would be beneficial to me and proceeded to open it. I was once again bewildered. These didn't show pain or heartbreak -- they showed indifference. People who didn't care, didn't want to care, and didn't have dreams or any kind of aspiration. These windows were filled with lots of someones wanting nothing, gaining nothing. I tried to yell out to them and offer encouragement, but they seemed to be deaf -- or just plain ignorant. I'd prefer to hope that they were deaf. Each window possessed the sight of another 500 souls lost, and not waiting for anyone or anything to arrive to take them home. My heart was burdened, so burdened that I lost focus and almost lost the grip that prevented me from falling through. I was then very cautious of where I stepped, in order to keep myself from such a dreadful fate. There was nothing safe or appealing about this hall, and after careful steps, I reached the entrance to "Wonderland."
Wonderland was appropriately named. The windows of this hall were on the ceiling, of all places. Unlike the others, this hall was short and had the decency to provide more than just windows -- it had plenty of ladders also. I was intrigued by these windows -- obviously they held more worth than the others. I climbed to the top of the first.. and was blinded by such bright colors and beautiful mosaics of unerring attitudes and personalities. My heart raced as I quickly realized that this was the exit I wanted to take. I climbed to the highest rung and beat on the window, only to discover it nailed shut. I kept beating, hoping someone from the other side would pry them open to let me through -- but they all continued to sing and laugh as if no one else mattered. My heart sunk, and and I climbed down from the ladder. I hung my head. This was the only thing I wanted to be a part of. I wanted the happiness that shone through, with all of my being -- as opposed to the previous windows that fostered death and disdain.
I lugged through to the end. My feet were tired as well as my heart -- and my head was sore. The only lure in entering was the challenge to reach the end -- and when the "exit" sign hung above my head -- I wished I had never stepped foot inside. It only broke my heart more.
I arrived at home beaten up by the images that scanned across my memory. I had an all access pass to the horrible pictures, and the limited view of the alluring ones. As I proceeded to get ready for a long sleep, I felt the brochures peeking out from my pocket and decided to take another scan at the things that I hadn't felt the need to look at before. I wish I had -- because they were carefully mapped out and had warnings and shortcuts. Not only had I spent hours through endless torture -- I had a key to the designated exit the entire time.
I fell asleep in tears, and woke up the next morning with profound knowledge. I'm not sure what hit me, but -- when it did, everything I had gone through made sense. Each hallway symbolically explained how I, and many others, have handled posed life situations throughout my lifetime. I've avoided hardships and trials by running away from them -- I've dodged all pain and suffering and ignored those that need help most. I've fallen prey to indifference, -- ... and I've desperately tried to pull that speck out of the indifferent eyes around me, not recognizing the log in my own. [Matthew 7:4] --- I've continuously tried to gain the benefits after doing no work to achieve them.
My heart was no longer broken, but desperate to change.
Those hallways taught me a lot about myself, and gave me a clear perspective on how I need to approach life from [this] point on.
Analyze -- and readjust.
welcome to 3:45 am ramblings..
p.s. the Word is the key to the ending door.
use it.
"Windows"
I recently found myself wandering through the ostensibly time consuming hallways of an enormous building downtown.
As I approached the building, the first thing I noticed was the hundreds of thousands of windows that it housed. It was slightly odd but enough to make anyone want to take a look inside just to see the outside once again. A signed warned the curious, "Designated Entrance: Once inside -- No exit until next door."
I fought off all precaution and stepped inside. I was provided with brochures explaining the difference between each of the halls. The brochures were vague, and hard to understand. I decided that it would be easier to skip over the details in the pamphlets, and experience it firsthand.
The first hall had more windows than any of the others -- tens of thousands. You could walk for miles and still see windows and only windows. These windows lined each side of the walls, and every single one was open. I looked through the first, and was horrified by the scenery.. mangled bodies, broken spirits, pain -- hurt -- flooded emotion. My eyes welled with tears as I watched so many treacherous things happen. The second was just as bad, if not worse.. multiple car wrecks, accidents, murders. All before my eyes -- as if my eyes were playing the meanest prank on my brain. As I turned to run back through the entrance, there was a flashing sign that said "wrong way." -- prohibiting my leave. These windows led to all things awful -- and I was growing weak just being around them.. so I ran. I took off and didn't look back, or to either side.. hoping that my eyesight would be restored with the next hall that I found. I was running for decades it seemed, so many windows -- and so much time had passed, and yet I still hadn't reached any kind of conclusion to this madness. I continued in my strides, not stopping for breath. A flicker of light a couple of yards down was the only thing causing me to continue running. I, then, had the incentive to sprint.. as my peripheral vision and sharp hearing had not failed to make note of the things happening on the outside of those windows, as well as the inextinguishable cries for help.
The "This Way: Safe Zone" sign lead me to my next discovery, a bizarre hallway -- similar to the first in that it was lined with windows, but.. deeply tinted and all placed strategically on the floor. I didn't realize the reason for this at first, but that would soon come. These windows were a curious thing, and all who walked through this hallway learned to fear them because they, also, lead to nothing good. They could easily be mistaken for the black tiles on the floor, so.. if not careful -- it was quite possible to slip through. They weren't opened, but they were unlocked to the few who desired to look inside. I was part of that few. I jumped a few squares down to one that I thought would be beneficial to me and proceeded to open it. I was once again bewildered. These didn't show pain or heartbreak -- they showed indifference. People who didn't care, didn't want to care, and didn't have dreams or any kind of aspiration. These windows were filled with lots of someones wanting nothing, gaining nothing. I tried to yell out to them and offer encouragement, but they seemed to be deaf -- or just plain ignorant. I'd prefer to hope that they were deaf. Each window possessed the sight of another 500 souls lost, and not waiting for anyone or anything to arrive to take them home. My heart was burdened, so burdened that I lost focus and almost lost the grip that prevented me from falling through. I was then very cautious of where I stepped, in order to keep myself from such a dreadful fate. There was nothing safe or appealing about this hall, and after careful steps, I reached the entrance to "Wonderland."
Wonderland was appropriately named. The windows of this hall were on the ceiling, of all places. Unlike the others, this hall was short and had the decency to provide more than just windows -- it had plenty of ladders also. I was intrigued by these windows -- obviously they held more worth than the others. I climbed to the top of the first.. and was blinded by such bright colors and beautiful mosaics of unerring attitudes and personalities. My heart raced as I quickly realized that this was the exit I wanted to take. I climbed to the highest rung and beat on the window, only to discover it nailed shut. I kept beating, hoping someone from the other side would pry them open to let me through -- but they all continued to sing and laugh as if no one else mattered. My heart sunk, and and I climbed down from the ladder. I hung my head. This was the only thing I wanted to be a part of. I wanted the happiness that shone through, with all of my being -- as opposed to the previous windows that fostered death and disdain.
I lugged through to the end. My feet were tired as well as my heart -- and my head was sore. The only lure in entering was the challenge to reach the end -- and when the "exit" sign hung above my head -- I wished I had never stepped foot inside. It only broke my heart more.
I arrived at home beaten up by the images that scanned across my memory. I had an all access pass to the horrible pictures, and the limited view of the alluring ones. As I proceeded to get ready for a long sleep, I felt the brochures peeking out from my pocket and decided to take another scan at the things that I hadn't felt the need to look at before. I wish I had -- because they were carefully mapped out and had warnings and shortcuts. Not only had I spent hours through endless torture -- I had a key to the designated exit the entire time.
I fell asleep in tears, and woke up the next morning with profound knowledge. I'm not sure what hit me, but -- when it did, everything I had gone through made sense. Each hallway symbolically explained how I, and many others, have handled posed life situations throughout my lifetime. I've avoided hardships and trials by running away from them -- I've dodged all pain and suffering and ignored those that need help most. I've fallen prey to indifference, -- ... and I've desperately tried to pull that speck out of the indifferent eyes around me, not recognizing the log in my own. [Matthew 7:4] --- I've continuously tried to gain the benefits after doing no work to achieve them.
My heart was no longer broken, but desperate to change.
Those hallways taught me a lot about myself, and gave me a clear perspective on how I need to approach life from [this] point on.
Analyze -- and readjust.
welcome to 3:45 am ramblings..
p.s. the Word is the key to the ending door.
use it.
-
Loved it. -
Wow. -
i miss you, just thought i'd let you know. :)
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