Almost Got It

Stretching out at the Henry Vilas Zoo.
(D Mossner photo)

Maybe in the grocery store you've tried getting something off the high shelf.  You stand on the tips of your toes and stretch your arm, your hand, and will your fingers to grow some extra nail to nudge that box of mac and cheese into reach.

Just out of reach, tantalizingly close, but almost hopelessly too far away.

It might be a good friend you haven't heard from in a while, yet seems only a phone call away; or those leaves on a Locust tree teasing the giraffe who can barely get his tongue on a small branch and finds it stripped of its leaves.

Lots of things in our lives get our attention like those leaves.  The old saying about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence holds some truth.  Except the truth is that it's not greener, it only looks greener.

Yet we stretch and reach for the half gallon of ice cream at the bottom of the freezer, precariously perched so we might join it if we lose our balance.

Sometimes our reaching and yearning is a bit ridiculous.  For the giraffe, there is a boatload of hay within easy reach, but it doesn't look as tasty as the tiny green leaves.

Other times, it's the reaching and striving which get us to our goal.  A personal goal of weight loss or slightly better personal time on a run or finishing that book we've always wanted to read when we find the time.

There isn't a hard and fast rule on this - many times we just need to keep pushing and getting outside our box to get where we want.  And occasionally, we should eat from the abundant basket within easy reach.

And there, my friends, is our dilemma.  Which way do we go at the fork in the road?