The High Road

Like it is - according to Diane

A few years ago I was imagining what the high road might look like as a metaphor. I ended up making a poster that said, “The high road has a great view.”  I was never meant to convey someone looking down on someone, but instead, someone looking down at something. A bird’s eye view often helps us see a bigger picture, and when I imagined the phrase from this POV, it gave the phrase, “take the high road” a whole new meaning. 

—--

The high road has a great view.

Every step reminds me of walking up the winter hill; a crazy carpet in hand. 
Balance reduced to the space between knees and the icy snow - ready to inflict pleasure or pain.
Toes gripping boots, boots gripping snow.
A bruised knee. Hands bracing a fall.
A rogue toboggan darting down the hill. 
Finally reaching the crescendo of wintertime sounds.
Of snow, of breath, of swooshing snow pants and of a runny nose.
I still remember the view. 
It’s splendor magnified with every thump in my chest.
8 years old and we’d climb. Again and again.
Because despite the fact we’d return to the bottom in seconds,
The moments we spent on top, would last us a lifetime. 
The high road has a great view.

Like it is - according to Vail

In theory, taking the high road seems like it would always be the right choice. Rise
above. Don’t let others steal your joy. Not your monkeys, not your circus. And on most
occasions, I like to think that when given the option that I steer up and out of the chaos, with a
vast and clear road ahead.
However, the high road sometimes isn’t/doesn’t seem accessible. We revert to our old
ways of thinking and patterns. One particular place where that high road seems to be eluding
me is in my interactions surrounding my son. I sometimes wonder if because he is a child, my
inner-child is also there with him, unable to gain access to the high road.
The other thought about the high road is whether taking the high road sometimes
weighs on our mental health and doesn’t let us set the necessary boundaries. So, as I think
about the high road, I think about which circumstances make for a smooth ride above and
when it might be best to stay down in the messy struggle to either grow or fight for something
that needs a soldier.
It might be a matter of the heart. Your heart might tell you whether the high road is the
“right” path or not.
High Road

• Someone gives you a compliment that is not a compliment (see earlier post). High Road.
• You get a nasty email from someone in a work environment that misses the mark. High

Road.

•  Someone cuts you off while driving. High Road.
• Customer service is being rude about a transaction. High Road.
• Your toddler is having a tantrum. High Road.

Fight the Fight

• A loved one is being hurt. Fight the fight.
• Someone has questioned/tarnished your integrity. Fight the fight.
• The actions of others are causing you harm. Fight the fight.
• Someone has crossed a moral line. Fight the fight.

Fighting the fight doesn’t necessarily need to be rude, but it requires staying down in the
muddiness of life and making sure that your heart or the hearts of others are safe. It might take
a lot of deep breathing and self-reflection and it might not be the easy way through, but we
want our next destination to be a better, safer, and more inspiring place to be.