Snakes in the Stream

Today I was walking in the neighborhood, I walked along the stream that flows along my route. In the past I've seen ducks and beavers as they make their home along the stream. When it has rained, the stream flows and I love hearing the splashing of water as it flows from one level to the other.

But today as I glanced over, I saw something in the water that did not thrill me - a nasty snake swimming in the middle of the stream. I don't like snakes, regardless of any good some of them do. I find them sneaky and scary. When I stopped to take a picture with my phone, the snake stopped swimming and stared at me. Really. I think he was sizing me up. Needless to say, I snapped the picture and left.

As I was walking back to the house, I thought about the lesson that this snake taught me today. He taught me that even in the pleasant, soothing stream that I love to walk past, there are creepy things along with the things I enjoy. There are things that scare me and could harm me, along with the things that delight me and give me pleasure.

But that's the way it is with many things in life. Right in the middle of something that is good, there can be sneaky things lurking about that are harmful. For instance, in the grocery store there are many foods that are good to eat, but there are other foods that are harmful to my physical and emotional well being. There are many good people in my life, but there are also those who are detrimental to my happiness. In fact, in just about every circumstance of life, there is the bad that is always swimming along with the good.

So I guess the thing to do is be aware of both the good and bad. And when faced with the things that threaten me, it's best to move on, especially when it's staring me in the face.