Estimated Reading Time 8 Minutes
Hey You! It’s Friday and that means another episode of The Vibrant Life Podcast. I’m Emily Romrell and I’m so happy to be with you today. I’m doing well and I hope you are having a great week. We hit a little rainy weather this week in Utah and if you happen to be feeling some rain in your life, hopefully, these few minutes together help a little bit. They definitely help me. I actually did a podcast on Embracing The Rain a while back and there’s a link to that in the show notes if you’re interested.
Another thing that has really been a blessing in my life lately is being grateful. I know we haven’t hit the Thanksgiving season quite yet. We’re just creeping up on Halloween. But when I decorated for Fall, I got this cute little sign where you can post different notes of things that you’re thankful for and I didn’t want to wait. So I’ve been focusing on different blessings for like a week and a half and it’s been fantastic. I’ve had some personal struggles that have been tough lately and this simple shift has really lifted my spirits. I mean, I try to be grateful all the time but the physical reminder is powerful. And we all know that any time of year is the right time to be thankful, right? If you want to see my gratitude posts you can check out my Instagram or Twitter, but what would be even better would be to start creating your own list. You won’t regret it.
Gratitude is also a daily practice in The Vibrant Life Goal Planner. I actually created a goal planner for myself in my personal development journey and if you’re looking for a little more organization and maybe a reminder to be thankful each day, check it out.
Alrighty, I took a couple more minutes in the intro today but gratitude is so key that I’m not sorry. But believe it or not, that’s not the subject of the podcast today. I’m psyched about this topic because it’s something that has been a theme for me for a really long time but that has grown richer in meaning and in depth as I’ve grown older. Today we’re talking about Bends In The Road.
If you’ve been listening to the show for a while then you can guess where I got this idea…from a book. I first read Anne of Green Gables in elementary school. I love those books so much. And the TV miniseries is amazing. That would always come on tv growing up when PBS did their fundraisers. ‘This programming is made possible from viewers like you.’ And we’d always be frustrated that the boring grownups would ask for money right at an interesting part. But as amazing as the movies are, the books are better. You get to know what the characters are thinking in books in a way that you can’t on film.
Anyway, there’s a quote about a bend in the road that’s been with me since grade school. Spoiler Alert: this is where Anne decides to stay home with Marilla rather than going away to school. She remarks, “Oh, I’ve dozens of plans, Marilla. I’ve been thinking them out for a week. I shall give life here my best, and I believe it will give its best to me in return. When I left Queen’s my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend, Marilla. I wonder how the road beyond it goes—what there is of green glory and soft, checkered light and shadows—what new landscapes—what new beauties—what curves and hills and valleys further on.”
Some of the old school writers captured life in their words so well that they will continue to ring true for ages. Montgomery is one of those. Roads are a big deal throughout all eight books in the Green Gables series. And if you look at classic literature the theme of roads is prevalent. The metaphor of life as a road that we all travel is almost as old as life itself, and for a good reason. All of us on the planet are going through a journey individually and collectively. And one thing above all others is guaranteed: life doesn’t turn out how you expect. There are bends in the road.
I guess it keeps us from growing complacent, right? It keeps us growing no matter what. Curveballs keep the game interesting and they also keep us grateful. See, being thankful is relevant to this concept.
I know she’s a fictional character but Anne of Green Gables is a great example of how we can deal with our personal bends in the roads of life. And she also demonstrates common ways that we might end up in a ditch from time to time.
One thing that I love about Anne is that she is an unrelenting optimist. Her imagination sees her through some pretty bleak times. She’s an orphan that was passed around between some horrible caregivers before she finally ended up at Green Gables. The town where Anne lives is beautiful, but it’s a simple farming community. Yet Anne revels in naming things. The pond becomes The Lake Of Shining Waters, and a small stretch of road lined with trees becomes The White Way of Delight. Anne has a talent for seeing the inner goodness of people, and she befriends a lot of characters who at first glance could be classified as mean-spirited cranks. And many of her friends are of different ages both older and younger than herself. Anne has the knack of discovering kindred spirits in others. Anne also has a great hunger to learn new things and this allows her to make a way for herself in the world.
But Anne has faults too. She has a temper that flares up as hot as her red hair. And she often neglects tasks and finds herself in multiple messes due to a lack of concentration and forgetfulness per the result of her wild imagination.
I consider myself fairly young. I’m 35 and I’m definitely feeling some more aches and pains than I used to. But I still have a lot of road left to travel. However, I’ve lived enough to know some heart-wrenching disappointments. My life has had twists and turns that I never expected. Some of those expectations are dreams that I’m still working toward making true. I’ve also had some great opportunities that I didn’t expect.
One of our family’s favorite movies is While You Were Sleeping. We watch it almost every year in the Fall. Actually, the time to watch again is here, haha. But Sandra Bullock is amazing in it and she plays a character that I really relate to. She is around thirty, single, working as a subway token taker, and completely alone at Christmastime in Chicago. Well, every day this cute guy comes through her booth and she has a big crush on him but never does anything. Till one day the cute guy is mugged and falls on the tracks right as a train is about to pull in. So Lucy, aka Sandra Bullock, jumps on the track and saves his life. The man ends up in a coma for a week and during that time Lucy is adopted into his big, loud, crazy family. Anyway, I have a point I promise. One night Lucy is confiding in the family friend Saul, who is this sweet grandfatherly character. And I’m paraphrasing and combining a couple of scenes but she says, “I always imagined I’d have the normal things that everyone wants. I’d grow up and get married and have a family. But you know I have an apartment and a cat, sole control over the tv remote.” She goes on to explain that her mom died when she was little and her dad passed away from some sickness, probably cancer. So now Lucy is alone.
Ok, so obviously this is a movie. It’s a romantic comedy and has a happy ending. But how many of us Lucy’s are there in this world? In a different part of the movie she’s talking to the guy in the coma, and she says, “If someone just really knew you, if they could see into your heart, then, of course, they’d drop the perfect model they were with and you would just grow old together.” We all feel like that, don’t we? That if others could truly see us for who we are, then we would be accepted and belong.
So if you see yourself as a Lucy, or men maybe you’re a Luca, it’s okay. I sincerely believe that things will turn out happily ever after in your story, and in my story. The thing is that we are all living in the middle of our tales and the middle is full of trouble, excitement, and surprise.
But we can all take a page out of Anne Shirley’s book and use our talents to our advantage. We can use our imaginations to deal with new and unpredictable circumstances. We can look more at the insides of people and discover kindred spirits along the way.
We can be curious about the bends in the road and say as Anne does, “I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend. I wonder how the road beyond it goes—what there is of green glory and soft, checkered light and shadows—what new landscapes—what new beauties—what curves and hills and valleys further on.”
It’s kind of crazy that this quote comes from Anne when she is almost ready to head off to college and then the plot twists and she chooses to stay home. In my first year of college, I felt similar things and I wrote a poem called Around The Bend. That was seventeen years ago. It blows my mind. Well, I’ve experienced a lot of life since then but the twists and turns keep on coming. I think even better things are coming. I thought I’d leave you with that poem today. I’ve posted it before on my website EmilyRomrell.com and I’ll also put on in the show notes for this episode.
(Quick side note: you can read all of these podcasts on the site and find some fun links of quotes and books and other tidbits if that floats your boat.) And I hope y’all know how much it means to me that a few of you take the time to listen to these thoughts. Anyway, here is:
Around The Bend Traveling life’s bumpy road I’ve found turns around the bend Unexpected ups and downs Acquaintances and friends At times the path leads to a mountain And I struggle with the climb But when I look down from the top I see a grand design How all things in this world connect Each person is part of a plan To teach and stretch and strengthen To press forward hand in hand We need each other to reach our goals Who knows what’s round the next bend In helping others we help ourselves To strive on and endure to the end.
Have a beautiful week, My Friends. Live The Vibrant Life!
