Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Tilting At Windmills


Don Quixote looked at windmills and saw dragons.  His trusty steed was an old plow horse well past his prime.  It was his quest, this Man Of La Mancha.  Slay the dragons!

Don Quixote begins as a loveable old man, perhaps delusional, but loveable.  But he upsets others, angers and frustrates them as he takes up his quest. 

He means well.  Doesn’t really accomplish much, though, does he?

I sometimes feel very much like Don Quixote and sometimes take up his quest.  And like him, I anger and frustrate those around me.  Sometimes, most of the time, I anger and frustrate myself.

I worry over this or that.  I fret over possibilities and probabilities sometimes to absolute distraction.  At times my worries can cause anguish and consternation in others.  I don’t mean to.  I don’t intend to.  But it happens.  

At times my worries cause me to lose sleep.  I don’t eat.  I snap at my wife, at my kids- those who I love the most.  I go into a shell and become uncommunicative.

And isn’t this the wrong path to take?  To not communicate?  To not reach out?  To remain silent and not ask for help?

And, what of the dragons that are in reality, only windmills?

Don’t we build small events and little worries into great and grandiose tragedies? Don’t we take a small worry, a triviality and make a mountain out of it?  And in the end, only to find that it isn’t so great after all?

We build it up in our mind.  We toss and turn in our sleep- if sleep comes at all.  We pop Motrin like Skittles.  Some might go for something stronger, more dangerous, more debilitating.  Only to find out that what we had been worrying about was nothing at all or at least so insignificant that it wasn’t worth the worry.

A dragon or a windmill?  A monster or nothing at all? 

Is it worth the mental paralysis we put ourselves, and perhaps others, through?  Is it worth the upset in relationships, the frustration we cause ourselves and our loved ones?  Is it worth the suffering and hurt we cause ourselves and others?

It just might be a windmill after all.  Something to think about . . .


Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

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Thank you for your comment. I welcome your thought. Joe