“Grounded. Gentle. Patient.”

What meaning do these words hold to you?______________________________________

Despite some who may roll their eyes back to the depths in their heads, against the very words they have just read – I’ll admit, more often than I’d like – I am none of these things at times.

And yet, consistently, I remain aware that I can be all of those things all the time if I so desire. And better yet, I am all of these things, because I have been all of those things at other times.

This concept, this idea – it can only hold the meaning that: if you have been it, you could be it, at all times, should you make the effort to try.

What lies in the way between us and the road which connects us to this avenue?

The one we rarely choose to drive through, despite knowing that it’s there, waiting to welcome us with its warm bones and sunny arms?

The avenue you may choose to walk with a person you’re fond of,
Simply to watch their expression transform to one which pleases your eye
While you allow this sensation make its way down the trench of your chest,
Where your heart, once ruined, comes back to life

The avenue where you could save a life, if you wanted to?
Even, with the fear of knowing it could take yours right along with it too?
The rocky avenue, hosting homes, to kind, gentle souls –
Where you’d give more than take, because you wanted to?

And yet – instead you sit, impatient, on the freeway,
With anger around you, at all those around you
For being angry around you – all for the same reason:
There’s anger around you.
To be free has no way but the path of the avenue;
For, the freedom is in you, on your cozy Ave-Nué.

Here and now, you must choose from the paths you were given –
Will you remain where you stand, bitter and complacent?
Or will you venture to the boat waiting for you by the water?
And ride your steady stream of consciousness
Down the river, through the park beside this Avenue?

Will you lie back in the safety of the comfort around you?
And release your control, for your vessel to guide you?
Drenched, from the sun’s most powerful rays, on a sharp autumn day –
Will you name the clouds as they near, and pass farther away?

And when the breeze, which for a while, blows only a certain way,
Picks up, only to let your hair fall in the most pleasant direction –
Will you allow it to sway you toward what lies between you and the avenue?
Will you let out a deep breath, from your calming adventure?
And when your feet move from the boat to the nature,
Might you feel grounded by your most Gentle patience?

*Ave-Nué is a phrase used to indicate a “new way” of approaching the choices individuals make, how they form their opinions and reactions to elements outside their control.

It is the way which signifies that looking back and moving forward can be accomplished in concert. There is always a new path to be taken, if one can recognize the future they may create using the will to improve on their past and their present.