Use it or lose it

This semi-abandoned truck evokes memories of so many enterprises that started out bravely and then, somewhere along the way, their fire went out. This truck sits with others that have been left to rot where they sit, monuments to a dream that died so abruptly that no effort was made to salvage the pieces.

In the absence of a guiding hand, Nature is attempting to reclaim her own. If no one fires this truck up and drives it off to the salvage yard, it will eventually devolve to the sorry state of its nearby companion truck. If not handled at this point, it will devolve further to a pile of rust. There is no end to this decline.

Our companies, our bodies, our lives are like these trucks in that we set out to accomplish something and continue to do so until we finally decide it’s too much trouble to go on. Once we stop trying, the game goes on without us and it may even involve us in ways we did not anticipate.

There is a time to grow and a time to die, and so on, but we have a choice in the matter. Give the game every thing you’ve got and when you decide that the game is not worth playing any more, move on to another game. Take your pieces off the board and leave it in good order for the next set of players if you can, but get on to the next game, because there always is one.

Happiness is knowing when it’s time to start over and use what you learned in the last game.

Best of luck in whatever game you choose to play.

For those of you who know truck-devouring weeds, here is a closeup. Let me know what it is.

UPDATE:  The plant is indeed pokeberry, otherwise known as American Nightshade. The bright purple berrries are poisonous, but they will dye almost anything purple.  Thanks to BC and Marie for their help.