The Quest for the Holy Grail

For me, knowing what I do not want is often much easier for me to define than telling you exactly what I do want. I have a number of theories as to why this is the case. None of which really matter. It is simply a matter of fact, that I do often make decisions by a ruling things out, sort of a process of elimination verses actually just going with what I want.

Recently I have decided to work to change this process. I am going to seek that which I truly want, instead of choosing from the list of things, which remain after I have ruled other things out. I have been thinking and kicking this around for about a year - with mixed results actually.

Today L & E & I went to her friend KI's birthday party. He is very into knights and it was a knight & princess themed party. KI's parents are attempting to channel his 5 year testosterone surge into constructive history lessons - therefore he is all about being a knight. So KI's mom made a string maze in their yard, one string attached to a colored cup and wound around the yard. She called it the Quest for the holy Grail. It was wonderful - but a bit too much for the 5 year olds. That said KI's parents, their neighbor and I helped the 6 kids (plus E) try to untangle and unwind the string in order to locate the cups. I thought it was great fun. I like this kind of puzzle.

KI's dad after a professional disappointment is embarking on a new career path. We had been discussing that and that is when it hit me. This struggle with the string in order to locate the cups is really a quest based on real life. Real life is tangled and messy. Sometimes the right path takes you exactly where you want to be and sometimes, for various reasons - you get off track and tangled in someone else's string or you get the seemingly right path tangled and end up veering off course.

At the end of the day however it simply does not matter. It is the journey. Sometimes the detour is the journey you need to take. Learning to accept the journey and enjoy the moment you are in - be it tangle or on the right path is the secret I think.

Some of the best times of my life, the moments I really remember, the ones that mean the most have come out of tangles, missteps, chances taken. They have been the moment's that I planned the least.

So where the knights of old really seeking a gold cup or was their quest for something else entirely?