A topic that has been on my mind the past few days is character. What triggered that thought was an old door.
One day last week, when the sun poked through the clouds, I decided to take advantage of the moment.
The dogs were ecstatic as we headed down to the barn. I pulled up my chair; a five-gallon paint bucket turned upside down and looked around me. Sitting there under the giant oaks and hickories, life seemed clearer.
Not far from where I sat, a redheaded woodpecker landed on a stump of dead pine to look for his lunch. Watching him knock his head against that tree made me smile, there are times I want to do the same thing.
The sun fell on the weather worn door of the old farmhouse there by the barn, making that old door a thing of beauty. That door had something and my mind wrestled with the right word to describe it. Suddenly it hit me, that door had character.
I started to think about character and all that it implies. Character is not something you can buy; no one can give it to you. You can’t inherit character but once you have it, you realize its worth.
Many things attribute to ones character, but often it comes from trials and involves scars.
I think life is a constant trial. Some days you are on top of the world and other days you are the yucky stuff at the bottom of the fish tank.
Trials can be lost and can be won, but losing doesn’t make you a loser and winning doesn’t make you a winner. The lessons that are taught and embraced by all those trials build character and help us grow. No trial is a loss if you learn something.
That old door seemed a fitting metaphor for character. It was new and young once, but through the years, storms, wind, sun and probably a few slams and kicks began to build its character.
No matter what came its way, the door remained steadfast, opening and closing for countless humans who entered the house. Now almost 100 years old, it’s character and beauty is a thing to behold. At least it is to me, for some I am sure it’s just an old door with rusty hinges and glass that has become foggy.
I realize I am starting to look like that old door, weathered and rusty but my hope is, that my life has built character and that my wins and losses have helped me grow and become steadfast like that door. And I will be remembered for my character.
