"Circle the Wagons..."

You know I was never much of a fan of the old western movies.  I guess even back then I had issues with Indians being portrayed as the bad guys when they were the ones being run off their own land.  But politics aside, there is one thing that resonated with me from these movies, especially as I got older.  It seemed most movies always had a scene where a caravan of settlers would get ambushed by the locals and in response they would quickly circle their wagons to provide protection as they fought off the assault.   As I grew up, “circling the wagons” became a metaphor for how I dealt with life’s hardships. 

When you think about it, our lives become a collection of details.  I would argue that we build that pile of details to such a point to where we start to lose our identity.   Now I know what you’re thinking, “Hey, John, I think I know my own name.”  That’s not what I mean.  We spend our lives collecting labels and things to create an image of who we think we are.  Father, Mother, friend, co-worker, chairman, student, program manager, Den Mother, executive, marathoner, photographer, Book Club President, Sales Rep, Club President, etc.  We collect cars, clothes, homes, money, pets, trinkets, etc.  It’s a never ending list of things we are, things we have.  And over time we apply so much importance to them that they become a vital part of our own existence. 

Now I’m not saying that doing any of this is necessarily a bad thing but when it starts to cloud our perception of ourselves then we’ve got a problem.  I can tell you that each and every one of us has had moments in our lives where we’ve been “attacked” across many of these details of our lives, to where we’ve felt surrounded and helpless.  Perhaps our position at work has become tenuous, or maybe we’re struggling with finances.  That expensive car is in the shop or we can’t afford that luxury vacation we planned.  Whatever it might be, the point is we become fearful when the things we have in life are in jeopardy of being lost. 

Moments like these I say, “Circle the wagons!”  Bring in close those things that truly are important to you and keep them near and dear to your heart and let those other “details” fall where they may.  Beyond the love of family and friends, what more do we really need?  Sure, a source of income to sustain our lives is pretty important but that’s a relatively easy thing to do when we decide to simplify our lives and remove some of the details that compel us to want more and to live beyond our means. 

Simplifying our lives by surrounding ourselves with people and things that bring real joy is what should matter most to us.  So forget the expensive trip.  Stay home and play Scrabble with some close friends.  Take your kid out for ice cream and listen to them ramble on about their day instead of giving them money to get out of your hair.  Skip a day of marathon training and take a drive with your spouse to an unexplored part of town.  Clubs will get along just fine without you.  Work will be there for you.  Life will always continue.

So the next time you feel ambushed, just tell yourself, “Circle the wagons”.  And hopefully that will be your cue to pull close to you all that brings joy to your life…