Don Quixote
looked at windmills and saw dragons. His
trusty steed was an old plow horse well past his prime. It was his quest, this Man Of La Mancha. Slay the dragons!
Don Quixote begins
as a loveable old man, perhaps delusional, but loveable. But he upsets others, angers and frustrates
them as he takes up his quest.
He means
well. Doesn’t really accomplish much,
though, does he?
I sometimes feel
very much like Don Quixote and sometimes take up his quest. And like him, I anger and frustrate those
around me. Sometimes, most of the time,
I anger and frustrate myself.
I worry over
this or that. I fret over possibilities
and probabilities sometimes to absolute distraction. At times my worries can cause anguish and
consternation in others. I don’t mean
to. I don’t intend to. But it happens.
At times my worries cause me to lose sleep. I don’t eat. I snap at my wife, at my kids- those who I love the most. I go into a shell and become uncommunicative.
And isn’t this
the wrong path to take? To not
communicate? To not reach out? To remain silent and not ask for help?
And, what of the
dragons that are in reality, only windmills?
Don’t we build
small events and little worries into great and grandiose tragedies? Don’t we
take a small worry, a triviality and make a mountain out of it? And in the end, only to find that it isn’t so
great after all?
We build it up
in our mind. We toss and turn in our
sleep- if sleep comes at all. We pop
Motrin like Skittles. Some might go for
something stronger, more dangerous, more debilitating. Only to find out that what we had been
worrying about was nothing at all or at least so insignificant that it wasn’t
worth the worry.
A dragon or a
windmill? A monster or nothing at
all?
Is it worth the
mental paralysis we put ourselves, and perhaps others, through? Is it worth the upset in relationships, the
frustration we cause ourselves and our loved ones? Is it worth the suffering and hurt we cause
ourselves and others?
It just might be
a windmill after all. Something to think
about . . .
Live Your Life,
and Make A Difference!