Serenity Amidst Stress

A familiar and piercing headache struck,

What used to be a joyful ride home,

After a busy Friday at work.

A chunk of my mind pondered:

Was my job,

The product of my youthful diligence,

With its twelve hour days,

Mediocre pay,

And consumption of precious time away from my young kids,

Worth it?

A corner of my mind was fearful:

Thoughts of my elderly father,

Several thousand miles and three continents away,

Immobile with relentless pain,

Brought back memories of my childhood,

As I realized,

that I might lose him.

Any leftover space in my mind,

Was angered,

By the heavy traffic,

Ahead of me.

Overwhelmed,

I remembered what my therapist taught me to do,

As I took a deep breath,

And looked for serenity around me.

I noticed the majestic descent of the sun,

As its magnificent orange rays,

Danced their way to the ground,

Through the scattered white clouds.

I felt pity for the beautiful autumn leaves,

That precariously hung onto trees,

As they took in the last of the humid air they could,

Before they plunged to their demise.

I adored the gorgeous sky-rises I drove towards,

That peacefully announced their authority,

Over the busy land beneath.

My therapist was right,

I realized,

As a smile emerged on my face.

If I found myself swamped with stress,

I had to focus,

On the simplicity of the present,

And on the beauty of the moments,

That I was lucky to be alive in,

For that's what makes the journey of life,

Truly worthwhile.