The Patchwork Heart

When Benny Franklin said that the only two things that are guaranteed in life are death and taxes, he could not have been further from the truth. Many other things are also guaranteed. You will love, you will hate, you will lose, you will win, you will be wrong, you will be right, you will laugh, and you will cry, you will make the right decision, and you will make the wrong one. All of these things can happen on the same day and even be caused by the same event; by the same person.

Sometimes we cause the most grief for the ones that we love. Whether it be for our parents when we bicker over trivial things, with a friend over a misunderstanding, or with a life partner over our feelings. And, even though our intentions may be grounded in the most positive of foundations, sometimes we go beyond the purpose of those feelings and we bend them inextricably out of shape if those feelings are not immediately returned in the same fashion - thereby making the original emotion void. Intentions don't override consequence. Nor do they nullify words said or actions made in the heat of the moment. Sometimes the most precious time in our life is the few seconds between what we think and what we say or do. Not always do we use that brief moment responsibly though.

With all the mistakes we will make in life it is important that we learn and we grow from them. What's more important than that is how we learn from them. Do you make the same mistake again? Or do you alter the motion of your hand to keep from pricking yourself once more? Our life can easily be compared to the construction of a great quilt. As we slowly put the patchwork together, we will no doubt poke ourselves along the way with the needle of error. At the time, it will hurt, and we will bleed. The further into the creation of this quilt we are the harder it will be to replace the stained patch of fabric. So, we continue and we look back occasionally at where we went wrong. As long as we understand that even though it hurt when it happened, it's alright now. Sure, it'll happen again, but it's not the end of the world. The quilt will still be a thing of beauty once it is complete. Those little mistakes will be what make it so perfectly beautiful.