HANG IN THERE

I passed by a car dealership (photo above) whenever I take the main road to get to work or on the way home. A few months ago, as I was sitting in traffic, I saw one of the balloons broke away, flew off but then caught on the wires. As I watched the balloon swaying in the wind, I thought how sometimes in our lives we feel as if we were the balloons stuck on the power lines. No matter what you try to do, you could not break free. Just like the balloons, you were up high but going nowhere, flapping around in the wind, slowly losing the air inside, then the emptiness took over, still hanging on the wires but nothing left of what was once a pretty balloon full of air.

There, in the middle of the dealership lot was the giant red balloon, high above all other little balloons. The colorful flags attached to the string provided eye-catching to passers-by. There it was, the red balloon and the big sky above, wide open. I thought of the time when I was not willing to take an extra step to see what is beyond the horizon. I missed the chance to reach for higher platform, instead settled in the familiar comfort zone, afraid of failure and accepting less, holding back by my own invisible string with colorful flags.