The struggle for personal improvement is very real. It is so easy to just let things go for a while, take a break, slack off. There is a constant struggle with pushing for optimum levels and this desire to just blow things off. Does it get easier? I think it does. However, it comes and goes. Take things for granted and then one day when you are not expecting it, life will sneak up on you and you will find yourself struggling once again.
You know the problem? I figured it out today and it has to do with chasing rainbows. My grandmother told me a story of when she was a young girl. She went missing for a while and everyone in Gunnison, CO freaked out. She was fine, she simply was chasing a rainbow looking for the pot of gold. She eventually found out that there was no pot of gold, so she just put those dreams away and decided to just live out her life in Western Colorado content with what she had.
I, on the other hand, have still not given up. I am still chasing rainbows and I have this belief that one day I am going to come to the end. There I will find a happy little leprechaun and he will deliver to me that pot of gold. The pot will be full of rest, relaxation and contentment. I will spend my days counting dandelion straws and memorizing the pattern that the splashing water makes against the rocks in the brook behind me.
I have come to realize that this is just never going to happen. No pot of gold, no leprechaun, no end of the rainbow. The beauty of life is in the chase and that is enough. When the rainbow ends, there will be darkness, the light is what is now. I have already been blessed with the pot of gold, it was laid before me before I was born and I jumped in and here I am swimming in sea of gold oblivious to how rich I really am.
The sage wisdom of a small country girl who actually found the real secret to chasing rainbows has now dawned on me. There is no end to find, because there is no end. There is no end to sorrow, there is no end to joy.
So that is it then. Stop chasing rainbows looking for an end that is never going to come. The struggle is real, the struggle is always.
Guy Reams
