Dear Kitty,

I was giggling like a mad scientist as I filled my little test tubes and grabbed testing chemicals. I counted out exactly 10 drops of nitrate test solution and set the timer on my phone for 60 seconds. I combined the solutions and shook the tube for exactly 60 seconds. No more. No less. I’m a stickler like that. You probably didn’t know that about me, because I play aloof and carefree very well.

Five test tubes and satisfied with the balance of it all, I recorded my findings. I stood for a moment watching the 6 little fish swimming around. A couple of guppies, a couple of platys and a couple of danios. Thriving, but not the fish I had envisioned having.

I had wanted some angelfish and some long finned goldfish. Fish that would be beautiful to watch as they lazily swam around my perfectly decorated tank. I had researched (because I am a stickler like that) and found that all these fish I deemed beautiful would have made for an aggressive tank, were difficult with other fish or could have caused an unhealthy tank. Trying to be a responsible fish owner, I had to steer away from what I thought was perfect in my mind and create something that was perfect for a working aquarium.

Hello Life.

That’s the way it works for us, isn’t it?

We desire to have what looks good for us, what feels good and what makes us happy. We crowd each part of our lives with things that were never intended to be there. In time, these things start working against us and create a unhealthy and aggressive environment.

We might try to balance it out, by doing damage control when we see things getting wonky. Ultimately, no matter how we try to tweak it, it will fail and we will suffer the loss.

“But it makes me happy….it’s what I want….I’ll just try harder to make it work.”

Let’s say I did that with the fish tank or any other members of my zoo. I put in fish that some require high ph and others that require low ph. No matter how I try to balance the ph to accommodate, I can not achieve what they both need. It’s the way nature works. Everything has unique needs and if we don’t consider that everything won’t work for everybody, we have set it up to fail.

Sure, it might make you happy temporarily, but because it wasn’t meant to be you will spend all of your time just trying to make it work rather than just enjoying life.

Life is not a “one size fits all” or just one big tank. What works for others may not work for you. We each have a specific purpose and journey to discover. Unclutter all those frilly and fluffy things you have surrounded yourself with and you’ll be surprised at how well things work when you just let God do what he had intended all along.

All of life is pretty simple when you cut out the unnecessary crap that makes you work so hard to keep it up.

Breathe, believe and become.

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