Recollections

Character is built on our experiences. What happens to us day by day constitutes what structures we ultimately turn out to be. We choose what we do with these daily building blocks that determine our final edifices. Our recollections remain in our minds, be they positive or negative. It is how we react to these circumstances that make all the difference and construct us to become who we are.

Do we look at these incidents as pebbles in our paths or boulders blocking our trails? Do bad memories build us up, or do we allow them to tear us down?

Do we fight a war for hate, or do we fight a war for peace? Do we allow prejudice and ignorant bias to fill us with bitterness, or do we in turn soften our hearts to others as the Golden Rule has taught us?

Do we bemoan the hurricane that took down all our beautiful trees leaving our yards bare and ugly, or do we plant new beds of flowers and blooming vines seeing the beauty that is there today?

When freezing blizzards rage in our warm South, do we relinquish our love of sweltering summers, or do we continue to plant our gardens teeming with tomatoes and an over abundance of squash?

Do we let these disasters eat away at us eroding our disposition, or do we clean up the debris that tries to destroy us? Do we weave what is left behind into a braid of a better life?

This collection of recollections is a peek into the past, which may dredge up remembrances for some that they may wish to bury. But, from these memories, which once caused some folks to cower, caused other people to better use their time while they were knocked down to their knees to ask for help, to rise up, and to become better human beings and creative citizens.

© 2004 Wittmann