My Ideal

Yesterday I biked until I was bumsore, windblown and sunburned.  I was on the bike all day long...except when I stopped to ask for directions.  Most of the lengthy trip was not planned.  I had a few place I needed to be and on the way, I took a few detours - some on purpose, some on accident.  At one point, I started noticing a bunch of people heading off the main road and headed towards a smaller one.  I decided to see where everyone was going (what can I say, I'm a follower).  I stealthily followed the pack which was made up primarily of 65 plusers (okay, so maybe stealth really wasn't required).  I'm so glad that I chose to be a daytime stalker of senior citizens.  They all headed to this place out in the country. 

There were hundreds of individual garden plots all connected by tiny pathways.  Most of them had a little shed or a living/kitchen area.  They had tables and chairs and ponds and flowers...beautiful, bright colored flowers.  It was a mini garden city.  It was relaxing and felt like the perfect escape.  Everyone was so happy and friendly.  No one was in a hurry.

There was a couple out pruning one of their trees.  I told them that it was looking great.  They thanked me for the complement.  I felt like I should thank them for thanking me for the complement; that's how nice everyone was (don't worry, I didn't actually thank them for thanking me.  Should niceness have a limit?  In this case I would have to say yes.). 

There was a huge sign at the center of their community.  It read, "Our Ideal."  Inspired by their sign I had to ask myself, "what is my Ideal?"  Not just what the place would look like but what my ideal would feel like.  It also made me ask what is stopping me from getting there...you know, philosophically speaking.  If I could create the life that I would define as Ideal, how would it differ from my life now?  What makes something Ideal?  The place? The people? The attitude? The feeling?  Or is it more about me and how I perceive the life that I am living? 

What is your Ideal?  And what is standing in the way of it?