Lessons from a Rocking Horse

The place that I take my recycling also has two trailers that collect things for Goodwill. The other day as I was dropping off my plastic and cardboard, I noticed a little rocking horse looking out of the trailer.

It looked rather forlorn and I thought about its plight. I wondered who had once owned it and then discarded it. I wondered if the child who once rocked on it would miss it. And I wondered what would be come of the little solitary rocking horse.

Then, as most things do, the rocking horse taught me a few lessons about life, which are:

1. Most of the time you have a choice in life. You can be sad about what once was, you can mope about what currently is, or you can look forward with hope about what may be.

2. You can sit in the back and wait for something good to happen, or you can get out there in plain view in the front demanding attention. If you know your value, don't be afraid to show it.

3. Sometimes you have to get out there and toot your own horn by yourself. But there's nobody who knows you better and should be prouder than you - so toot away!

4. Time passes and people move on to other things. But if you really mattered, you won't be forgotten. Just have faith that the heart you once belonged to will always have that spot that belongs just to you.

5. It may not always seem like it, but there's always somebody who cares - even if it's just a lady who thinks you're too precious to pass on the opportunity to take your picture with her cell phone! The fact is, you matter!