This morning I read a quote which was taken from one of the works of William Blake, an English poet and printmaker.

“The cut worm forgives the plow.”

I read that and thought … what a great analogy. (Please note: I am not calling you or us worms, so please bear with my rough analogy here.)

If you are freaked out even seeing an image of a worm, sorry! Please read on, there are no more pictures.

It’s not that a worm has a mind to forgive anything or even think about anything. It simply does what a worm is made to do. But, in considering an earthworm, for example, which is what I immediately thought of and am most familiar with as having the misfortune of being cut by a plow *, this is a very interesting statement.

The cut worm forgives the plow.

An earthworm that gets cut in half still lives, but as two earthworms. Did you know that? It’s an amazing feat of nature. Each then regenerates the parts lost, then continues on with life. If you are really interested, there is a great article here that you can read later. If you are not interested, then please excuse my fascination of such things.

The cut worm forgives the plow.

• Have you ever felt that life circumstances are cutting you in half?
• Do you feel you just don’t know how you are going to handle the stress in your life?
• Do you feel cut off from what used to be normal for you?
• Has something happened that has changed your path and redirected you?

The cut worm forgives the plow.

Think about that a minute. What if things have to change – you have no say in it or your better choice is to go with the flow? Suppose what lies ahead is even better than what you have to leave?

We don’t know what is coming ‘down the pipe,’ so to speak. We don’t have the ability to foresee how things are going to be years or even days from now. But, what we do know is that we can survive if we simply keep taking each moment as it comes. Never mind the days or hours, or even minutes … take each breath, each moment, one at a time … and keep on keeping on.

The cut worm forgives the plow.

That plow in your life is making a difference. It is up to you what you do with that change. Are you going to bemoan what happened to affect change in your life, thereby not allowing yourself to move forward? (I am well aware that some things are tragic losses that seem insurmountable, but I can assure you there is life – however altered – waiting to be lived. I just hope you will remind me of that should the time come again in my life.)

We have a choice to make when faced with change – when the plow again passes through our well-ordered, predictable lives. (As much as we may think life is chaotic and scrambled, there is a certain routine we have developed, however varied it may seem.)

1. Do we emotionally fall apart and refuse to move on, clinging to memories and what remains of the life we knew? Or,
2. Do we take a brave breath and step forward into the unknown (which describes every day, anyway), being thankful for the growth that lies ahead for us?

I know it’s not easy to do the latter. Moving ahead when we are uncertain and wobbly can be frightening. But, have you ever watched a young child learning to walk? Usually the baby will eagerly try and try until gaining the strength and balance to move ahead on his/her own. Even with help at first, it’s exciting and rewarding to accomplish those steps. We can do it beyond babyhood, too, although in a different way – one day at a time, one step at a time.

What was, good or bad, is something that is part of the whole of who we have become and can be used in either a positive or negative way. If it was bad, we learn to not go there again, to not be that person anymore, to not continue to live life that way; if it was good, we take the best of it and let it contribute in our future in a positive way.

So, has the plow cut through who you know yourself to be? You can start again, renew yourself, continue on. There is always someone who has been there before you, who has made it, and from whom you can learn.

When I write things like this, I usually don’t know for whom it is intended – myself at some future date, or for someone else – which is the usual case. If this speaks to your heart, Bless you! Take courage and make that step. Look ahead with eagerness of what wonders lie ahead for you.

Have you an experience you’d like to share about here as encouragement? Are you in a situation now that is challenging you to let go and move on?

*Plow is another spelling for plough but they have the same meaning.

So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble. – Matthew 6:34 (Amplified version)

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂