Fences

Fences.

Sometimes we need to build them.

Sometimes we need to break them down.

And once in awhile, we need to mend them.

I've seen a lot of pretty fences in my lifetime.

Like this one along one of the paths at Zion National Park.

This one is intended to keep us safe, to mark the path so we don't end up where we shouldn't be.

It's beautiful and sturdy, adding to the landscape vs detracting from it.

Those are the best kind of fences.

But what about the other kinds?

The ones we build to keep people out.

The big ugly, opaque fences that no one can see through.

Closing us off from the world.

I've built a few of those in my lifetime.

I used to think they protected me.

But the older I get, I've learned that those not-so-pretty fences actually hold us back.

You see, when we put up walls like that, they keep us from being seen.

They cast shadows that drown out the beauty on the other side.

Sometimes those fences even hurt us and our relationships.

Cracks and splinters form when we hide behind them.

It's taken a lot of years, but I've finally broken down most of the fences I put up.

Its freeing actually.

The sun shines in and the shadows are gone.

People can come and go freely, and bring joy and laughter with them.

I think we should all stop and think about the fences we've built.

Which ones are keeping us safe?

And which are broken and need to be mended or taken down?

Take a good, hard look.

What are we hiding from, anyway?

There's a great big world out there, with a lot of amazing people in it.

Let's let them in.

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We Are the Sum of Our Choices