To Be Clear...

There are times when life is crystal clear--when you know what is ahead and what is behind, and when you are fairly sure that the decisions you are making are the right ones, at least for the current moment.

These times make up about 10-20% of life.

More often, clarity is seen only through the foggy filter of circumstance. What is ahead and behind changes daily, since most of the time, our circumstances change daily. The "right" decisions may be clear in the moment when we make them, but they don't stay that way for long.

I used to pride myself on my clarity--I used to be sure so often about people, about choices, about life. But sometimes, clarity is more about compromise than about certainty. We can't always be sure about what we are seeing, but we can choose to look closely enough to to find our own clarity.

To be clear, our choices must incorporate not just the expected, but the actual. To be clear, our decisions must recognize the changes that are inevitable. To be clear, our view must include not just what we see, but what we can't yet see as well.

Clarity isn't the simple matter that it used to be. But that doesn't have to leave us fuzzy headed. Rather, the difference in clarity can leave us even more opportunities to be clear. With a shout over all the chaos, we can choose to be clear. With a step away from some of the confusion, we can decide to be clear. With a push through the obstacles, we can choose to be clear.

Well, at least 21% of the time...