Life is full of color!   You cannot do life well standing still, or staying in one place or doing one thing.  A life in black and white was never an option for me.  I never could settle on one favorite color and the thought of walking it in one straight line was offensive to me. What we have accomplished, our sufferings, our joys cannot simply fit within that little dash that separates our birth and death dates.  Life should be a circle!

This great perception of life is sung in Zulu, a language spoken by over 10-million people including 95% of South Africa, and it opens the Broadway play The Lion King.  These are the lyrics translated:

“It’s the circle of life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle
The circle of life”

Bindon/John

The chalk hit the blackboard this week when I was asked to prepare a short three-minute synopsis of my story (as presented in our TV Series, Our BackPack) for my upcoming presentation in Washington DC this coming week.   There I stood with the chalk and eraser, putting more mileage on the eraser than the chalk.

What is my story?  Won’t fit in a dash, and I’ll bet yours won’t either.  From tragedy and loss, to blessing of two more healthy sons, back to the valley of the memory of loss.  From struggling to keep my family together after days of depression and healing from burns and skin grafts, to an adventure of a lifetime which incidentally wasn’t dropped from heaven upon us . . . we had to make the thing happen.  Can you fit it in one circle?   How big is your circle??

Each year of life my circle has increased in size as I include each of those who have become new friends, by living in their circumstances,  sharing their pain and celebrating their victories.  All for the sake of adventure, I share these experiences with you, not so you could think “wow, she’s a real go-getter,” but instead so you can add some color to your life as you say:  “I can do that!”  We call it AWE – Adventure With Engagement.  Grab some color for your circle!
Have a colorful weekend!

Dawn