Life is About Latitude

What I mean when I say Life is about Latitude is that life is really about choices, but choosing to be happy is all about Latitude and Attitude. No, I’m not referring to a certain Jimmy Buffett song and I don’t mean catching a flight to St. Somewhere and sipping margaritas on a Caribbean beach. Although that could make me very happy, unfortunately I am not a millionaire like Jimmy. Even if I was, money doesn’t buy happiness…it’s a choice we have to make every day. Any way you slice it, no matter how good you got it, life is an UPHILL climb and that’s what I mean by latitude.

No one likes to feel down or low. There’s a reason they call a good feeling a high.  Every single day we have to make a choice to climb the hill, or for some, it might be a mountain. There are things in life that happen can bring us down, IF we choose to allow it! We may be dealing with something as big as a disaster, the end of a relationship, or sometimes it’s just a depressing movie or a sad song on the radio that can trigger a bad memory or a bad feeling. For some, it’s old baggage. It’s easy to say you forgive but not so easy to forget and if you can’t forget, then you haven’t truly forgiven.  I don’t mean that you have to completely erase everything from your memory in order to forget, but it’s a subconscious decision not to allow bad memories or feelings of animosity to surface and control your thoughts.  You push them aside and focus on what’s ahead like driving on a road.

The road in life might seem long, but in reality it is short and your final destination will be here before you know it, sometimes sooner that we’d like. If you are constantly looking through the rearview mirror you can’t enjoy the view in front of you. Furthermore, if you’re not focused on the road, that’s when you run off into the ditch. Take for instance, if you’re traveling on vacation and you run off the road, it takes more time and energy to get yourself back on the road and takes time away from your planned activities or relaxation…or worse, by the time you get there you are so flustered and stressed out that it takes even longer to calm down before you can even begin to enjoy yourself. Some people can even choose to let something like that ruin their entire vacation.

Ok, now that we took a little side trip, let’s get back to the climb. Whether you’re climbing a mountain or walking up a hill, it’s always harder with more weight on your back. This is why hikers carry small, lightweight backpacks with only the essentials. Even in today’s world of insane airport security and baggage fees we have learned to pack light. You only pack what’s necessary for your trip ahead. You wouldn’t bring a suitcase full of dirty laundry with you, so why would you carry old baggage around with you throughout your life? If you are carrying heavy bags up a hill, it’s inevitable that they will either pull you down by sheer force of gravity or trip you up and send you rolling down in a landslide! As far as leaving the baggage behind, it’s easier said than done for some. You cannot change the past or control what others have done, but only you have the power to change your future if you stop allowing yourself to relive the bad memories and start focusing on the here and now.

The climb actually started when we born and will continue until we die. Whether you’re a novice hiker with a hill to climb or you find yourself with a mountain to scale, chances are at some point along the way you will fall and get hurt or worse, someone you trusted will push you right down into the canyon.  Whether you end up with a scraped knee or internal bleeding…a wound cannot heal if you ignore it or keep picking at it. Regardless of the intensity of the wound, if you let it fester without seeking treatment they can eventually kill you. Most of the time, the skinned knees in life are easily dealt with by slapping a bandage on and going about your merry way but others require much greater care. The treatment you seek depends on your ability to deal with the situation, but whether you need a little physical therapy or a surgeon, still hypothetically speaking, deal with it and then the healing begin. Yes, it takes time to heal, but not forever. You can either allow the bacteria to keep eating at you or you can put some antibiotic on it and let it heal. You could even think your healing nicely and one day, you choose to stick your finger in it, full of bacteria, and the healing process has to start all over again. That’s when you have to make a choice to leave it covered, let the healing continue and move on. Even the smallest distractions like a happy song or a relaxing activity can help change your thoughts and help you shake it off, stand up, and keep climbing. As soon as you hear that voice in your head or that sad song on the radio saying to look in the rearview mirror or to open up that old wound, it’s up to you to block it out, ignore it and move on. 

Chances are, you will always have a scar to remind you of your past wound, but a scar is not an invitation to re-open the old wound, it’s a Victory! There’s a reason scar tissue is stronger and tougher than the skin around it. It’s part of the body’s natural defense and should only be a reminder that what you have overcome has made you a better, stronger person.

Focus on the good things, the opportunities ahead and turn to whatever keeps your head up, whether it’s your faith in God, your family or just sheer hope for the good things to come. No one else can do it for you…it’s a choice YOU must make every single day because you can only continue your journey one day at a time or choose to be stuck at the bottom!