This song came on yesterday, while I was taking a walk on the last day of my long weekend:
(“At Last You’re Here” by Pat Metheny also lasts here on YouTube.)
That’s not the last time, I’m sure, that a song will — synchronistically and coincidentally — match my mood and circumstance. When I heard “At Last You’re Here” yesterday, I smiled; I had just found something I’d been awaiting, for several weeks. At last, it was here.
The details of what I was waiting for are not important. Based on my experience for the last 61 years, that won’t be the last time I wait for something to arrive.
For example, as I’m writing this, I wish and hope to say “At Last You’re Here” to:
- peace of mind
- acceptance,
- confidence,
- awareness,
- clarity,
- faith in myself and others, and
- the “right” answer to difficult questions.
At last, this realization is here:
In life, there will be downs and ups, bad luck and good luck, disappointments and blessings.
In therapy — at the beginning, at last, or at some other point — people bring up two recurring images/metaphors. To describe personal ups and down, we use this mathematical wave
and/or
… the roller coaster.*
At last, are you ever there?
At last, I’d like to tell you this, as clearly as I can:
I (and most human beings I’ve met) are on guard for the next wave of downs/the negative, as a way to self-protect. At last, that does not help. Instead, that extends the life of the negative by anticipating it, focusing on it, and resisting letting it go.
Instead, I believe I shall last longer, healthier, and happier, if I anticipate the positive or (at least) give the positive the same space and time as the negative takes up in my heart, soul, and mind.
In other words, when
- fear
- hopelessness,
- confusion,
- pain,
- isolation
at last appear again, I must remember I’ll eventually be saying “at last, you’re here” to
- relief,
- hope,
- understanding,
- lessening of pain, and
- connection.
At last, does this all make sense? Let me know, in the comments appearing at last, below.
Here’s another song — At Last! — I’d like to share;
(“At Last” sung by Etta James lasts here on YouTube.)
At last, here are some photos I took yesterday during my walk and my visit with my beloved ex-sister-in-law, Deborah:
At last, Penny the Pen is brave enough to see with both eyes again. Will that last? What do you think?
Many thanks to Pat Metheny, to sine waves and roller coasters, to Etta James, to Deborah and her husband Joe (who restored Penny’s eye, in a twinkling), to all those who have ups and down, and — at last but not least — to you for being here, at last.
* At last you’re here in the footnote section, so I can tell you I found that image of the roller coaster here. At last I’ll tell you that if you don’t like roller coasters, try this: imagine yourself standing solidly on the ground, observing — in safety — the ups and downs of the roller coaster of life. At last: if you try that, let me know if it helps and if it lasts.