My Metaphor

I need one--a metaphor.  I need said metaphor to explain to me, to show me what my life is like.  How it moves, flows and grows.  So, I've chosen one--a metaphor just for me.  It's all mine.  I'll call it my River Metaphor.

Since I've decided to liken my life to a river, I'll use that analogy to explain the ebb and flow of life as I know it.  You see, I now live on a river and I've had the opportunity to live on it for one year--through all four seasons.  I've watched it swell and shrink, freeze and thaw--and I've watched that happen in my life as well.

I started out with a small river in my life, one where I lightly rode a raft through my childhood, I had no control, but was carefree and cared for.  I went to school, hung out with friends and grew up--steady, surely, safely--flowing.

After marrying, my river began to swell a little, and by the time I had children it was raging--sometimes out of control.  I still loved it though--that river life of mine.  It was a sweet ride.  I didn't really have time to notice the seasons of river life back then, it was a fast-paced time for me.  In fact, there wasn't much of me at all during that time.  Life was about family--my kids and my husband.  Maybe they were there as a life preserver without me knowing it--yes, I think they were my life preserver.  I'd like to believe so anyway.   And although it seemed back then that that time in my life lasted forever, I realize now that it didn't.  It was just a season--too short for me.

My river isn't racing any longer.  It has slowed down to a steady pace.  And much like the seasons in my own life during this last year, there have been times when my river has frozen over.  It's frozen over enough for the ducks to walk across in winter, it has flowed mightily with the spring thaw and it has swelled during the summer rains.  But, it has been steady and predictable, almost normal.

We're gearing up for Autumn around here now.  I'm getting out my fall decorations, and I'm thinking about apple crisp and pumpkin pie.  I'm wondering what these next few months will hold.  Will they be overflowing or sure and steady?  What changes will there be?  I don't mind the small changes, it's the big floods that worry me.  Whether they be in my life or happening on my river--flooding scares me a little.

I guess it scares others too.  We all watch the river to see what will happen with the change of seasons, and really it's all pretty much the same.   Year after year, season after season there are changes on my river and yet they have been foreseeable and yes, even predictable.

In my metaphor I feel that I flow along with my river, knowing that change is inevitable but hoping that it happens slowly--please slow down my river, you are moving a little too quickly now.