Connecting the Dots

Remember when you were 6 years old and doing a dot-to-dot? You would travel along on the page from one dot to the next. When you finished you were left with something completely different than what you started out with. Your job still wasn’t over. Now you had to fill in the rest with lots of different colors. I don’t know which part I liked best. Was it wondering what it would be, the journey across the page, filling the spaces with color, or the end result? At times it may have been one or two of those things. Others it might have been that feeling of accomplishment went it was complete. Other times I may have taken complete joy in the changing colors. Either way, I loved doing a dot-to-dot.

Looking back I have realized that my life has been a whole book of dot-to-dots. Some were simple and some were really tough to complete. Right now I am working on the most complex one yet. I started out with a page full of dots that appeared as if it would lead to a life full of fear and uncertainty. However, now that I have connected all of the dots such as job, attorney, finances, a home, and the rest of my plans for the kids and me, I can see the basic picture. That is comforting. I know much more about what to expect in the next 6 months to a year.
That brings me to the coloring phase. On this particular dot-to-dot, the coloring is the best part. We are filling in all of the spaces with something positive.

The first section is work. My job keeps getting better each day. I have loved my job from day one. I cannot believe there is room for improvement, but there apparently is. I will fill you with some of the details at a later time. The point is that I am working with a whole rainbow of colors when I go to work each day.

The next couple of dots represented finding an attorney and understanding my kids and my rights. This was not as much fun in the beginning, but with some reassurance from my mom and some friends I was able to move on from one dot to the next. Now I am filling that section in with a whole lot of black and white.

When I first started working on the section that covered my finances for the future I was afraid that the only color that would match would be red. However, it turns out that red clashes. Not even The Red Hatters club could make red work here. Nope, it’s green. All shades of green.

The last section is huge. It’s my home life. It is filled with things like having a place to live, selling everything we don’t need,packing, moving, replacing what needs to be replaced such as furniture that will fit in an apartment rather that a big house. Then you have organizing appointments, meals, errands, health and making sure my kids have what they need. Not just on a monetary level, but mostly on an emotional level. The list just keeps going on. This section is also full of colors. I am thinking blues for calm, white for introspection, purple for love, yellow for health and all of the colors in-between.

So what does the completed picture look like? Well, let me describe it to you. There are three people in the center standing close together and holding hands. A woman and two children. The woman is looking at the two children who are almost grown. She is serene, and proud and full of love. The two children are standing up straight. They are not looking at the floor. Instead they look at each other with wide grins full of acceptance and confidence. There is also a gleam in their eyes that reflects a touch of mischief. In the background you see so many other people. Some are family members, some are friends, and some are just people who have come into their lives at the right time and helped them along the way. The full picture is like a stained glass window that looks nice on all occasions, but when the light shines through….It’s glorious!

Man I love connecting the dots!




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