Get Out Of The Cave

On Friday I drove to the monastery and spent a few hours there.  I was unusually restless and felt a little lost while I was there.  It was almost like I didn’t know where I was.  I finally decided that the balance of my day could be better spent at home.  My wife is still moving kind of slow so most of the weekend was spent at home.  By Sunday afternoon I was stir crazy so we decided to go out for a meal.  We met my oldest son, his girlfriend, and Chloe at a restaurant on the river.  The weather was beautiful so we ate outside.  There were lots of people there, music was playing, boats were all around us, and the food was good.  It was an enjoyable experience and another life lesson re-learned.  Sometimes you just have to get out of your chair, join the rest of the world, get over yourself, and live.  One of the negative aspects of my personality is that I am typically a withdrawn and solitary person.  Sometimes this is a good thing but if I am feeling down it’s a bad thing.  I need people who stand at the entrance to my cave calling my name and beckoning me out into the open.  Unfortunately there are few people who do this.  I am sometimes too withdrawn and too solitary for my own good.  I often avoid people and social activity but when I am with people and I am involved in a social activity, I often enjoy myself.  When  you are depressed, or feeling blue as my grandmother used to say, being alone is not the best solution.  Get out of your your cave and be with some people.  This is not to devalue solitude.  I still believe we all need some quality time alone once in a while.  Some will need more than others.  Whether you need more solitude or more social interaction, balance is the key.  This weekend I needed some social interaction.  By the end of this workday I will need some solitude.